Scare Me
by Egoperceptum
Summary: Henry enlists Emma and a skeptical Regina to help him with a fundraising Harvest Festival. However, within the corn maze, more comes to light than just the women's fears. This is AU-ish: the curse is real, but not even Regina knows it.
1. Chapter 1

"A corn maze, huh?" Emma asked as she popped a fry into her mouth and looked across the formica table-top at her son whose eyes were lit with the thrill of adventure. Personally, the blonde was willing to grant the boy nearly anything since he had come out of the mine unscathed. She had been torn between the urge to tack his ears back and the urge to cuff him to her side permanently.

"Yeah! We could get the whole town involved!" He pumped a fist in the air. "We could do it like a Harvest Festival or something to raise money for the nuns."

The Sheriff tapped her finger on her lips in contemplation. "It's a bit short notice, Henry. I mean it's half-way through August." _And unseasonably cold._

"But if we get the word out now, we would still have time." His voice took on a pleading quality and she looked deep into his eyes.

"Why is this so important to you, kid?" He looked away and shrugged, but Emma wasn't having it. "I will help you get this going, but I want you to be honest with me. What is this all really about?"

He looked up at her with his sincere eyes. "Well, after Graham…" he trailed off and Emma's stomach lurched. "I know you need a new patrol car…and the town could use a pick-me-up."

The blonde considered his words. Yes, Graham's death had been a surprise to all. The man had been acting very peculiar the days leading up to his accident. Emma wondered, not for the first time, if the car's collision with that tree had been purely accidental. All she knew was that her friend had been dead on her arrival and the patrol car completely mangled. Forcing the mental pictures of the former sheriff's lifeless eyes from her mind, she re-immersed herself in the conversation.

"Henry," She began slowly and quietly. "I appreciate your concern. It makes me proud to see how much you care for this community. We will do the Harvest Festival, but no more worrying. Deal?" She asked and he smiled and nodded reaching across the table to shake her hand.

"Henry." Came a scolding voice from behind them as Regina slipped through the door of the diner. "You were to come straight to my office after school and begin your homework."

"I had to speak to Emma." He argued.

"I'm sure whatever pleasantries-" She began with a flash of anger in her eyes, "that you and Sheriff Swan needed to exchange, could have been done during your scheduled visitation time."

"But this was business." Henry said. "She's going to help me with the Harvest Festival."

"Henry, we've discussed this already-"

"Emma believes it can happen." He said stubbornly, raising his chin half an inch. The blonde fought to keep the emotion from her eyes when the brunette turned her narrowed gaze to her face.

"She does, does she? Well, forgive me if I do not trust a woman that would set fire to my office only to be seen saving me from it."

Emma sighed, "We've discussed this. I didn't do that, Gold did. So as far as I'm concerned, all I did was save your sweet ass from a blazing inferno." The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and raised her own chin a bit.

"Henry, go get in the car."

"But-"

"Go." She said in a tone that was not to be argued with and then sat down across the table from the defensive blonde and smiled wickedly. "Sheriff, I'm going to allow this little project to go forward, do you know why?"

Emma considered the woman a moment, "No, but I'm sure it's because you think it will make me look foolish." She said shrewdly.

"As a matter of fact, it is; not that you need any help." The brunette sniffed and looked at her red leather jacket disdainfully. "You see, when this project fails, as it invariably will, due to a lack of sufficient planning and funds, Henry will see that _you_ have failed him."

"And what about when it succeeds?"

"Dear," Regina smiled unpleasantly, "You should not kid yourself."

Emma stood abruptly. "We'll be having a town meeting in a few days, I suggest you attend to at least give the impression that you give two shits about your son's happiness." The blonde snapped at her and then strode out, leaving Regina with an empty and unsatisfying sense of victory.


	2. Chapter 2

The blonde shuffled from one foot to another backstage as Mary Margaret tried to calm her. "Look, Emma, it's just like talking to friends out there." She cajoled gently as David sidled in without his wife. Kathryn had entered earlier, looking stoic, and taken a seat on the left side of the hall. The blue-eyed man conspicuously chose a seat on the other side of the room. Emma watched the brunette notice, but didn't comment on it. "You will make this work, Emma. I know you will." Mary Margaret spoke forcefully. "Granny and Ruby will back you up. We're all on your team no matter what Regina says." She kissed her on the cheek and scuttled off stage left.

Suddenly, the curtains opened and left the blonde blinking in the blinding spot light. "Jesus." She cursed under her breath. Shuffling her notes in her hand, she stepped to the podium, smiled in what she hoped was a winning way, and began.

"Hey there." She said hesitantly and then spotted Henry in the front row. He flashed her a thumbs up and she felt emboldened. "You all know me by now as the new Sheriff and as Henry's birth mother." She took another steadying gulp of air and continued. "I wanted to have a meeting tonight about an upcoming project that I hope you can all help us with. As you know," she stepped away from the podium and gestured to a large easel that contained a stack of pictures printed on thick cardboard, "our nunnery is in disrepair." She flipped the boards and rattled off about the needed repairs to the structure as the crowd looked on with mostly interested faces. "Now, seeing as taxpayer money cannot be used to refurbish-"

"Why not?" Came a voice from the crowd.

"Pardon?" Emma blinked, caught off-guard.

"Why can't the Mayor's office pay for this? We just built a new play structure and we can't foot the bill to take care of the nuns?"

Emma knit her brows and scanned the crowd for Regina. For the first time, Emma found that she needed the woman's bossy voice. She was certain the answer: _The Mayor hates my guts and won't do anything I want her to,_ would not be acceptable. Suddenly, she heard a throat cleared to stage left and swung her head around.

"Sheriff, may I?" the brunette gestured to the podium and Emma hesitated for a fraction of a second but the crowd behind her rustled and began to murmur. The blonde reasoned that if the woman wouldn't shut up, she could simply hurl her from the stage.

"Be my guest." She said and Regina stepped out onto the stage. A hush fell immediately.

"Due to the separation of church and state that is outlined clearly in our town charter, I'm afraid taxpayer money cannot be used to alter, add to, or demolish any structure or property owned by the church." She rattled off quickly. "Excepting in emergency situations."

"The roof is about to fall in and you don't call that an emergency?" A voice called.

"Regina is right." Emma stepped forward. "Unless there is a real and present danger," Emma hoped she wasn't just making this up, "city funds can't be used. The nuns have to find a way to pay for this. That's why I'm proposing this Harvest Festival. We can set up booths, shops, and attractions and push all the proceeds into Mother Superior's hands."

"If the money is voluntarily given, it is considered a donation and of no consequence to the state funds." Regina rattled off: not stopping to consider why she was helping the blonde nuisance.

The crowd muttered quietly. It seemed they were still hesitant about putting in that much work. "I know it seems like a lot to ask-" she began but was cut off by another voice.

"You're damned straight." Other voices called out and Regina rounded on Emma.

"What did I tell you? This couldn't work!"

"What do you care? You wanted me to fail anyway." The blonde growled back.

"Stop fighting!" Henry's voice rang out and the meeting hall fell silent once again. All eyes turned to the small boy at center-stage. "How many times have the nuns helped you?" He demanded. "All of you?!" His eyes zeroed in on the town florist. "When your shop burned down, who helped you out?" He rounded on Leroy, "Where do you spend the night when you aren't locked in the drunk tank?"

"Easy, kid." The small, hairy man mumbled.

"Look, the point is that they have done more for this town than anyone else. But it's not just for them, Emma needs a new patrol car and the town money can't buy that either." The crowd went silent once more and looked quickly between both women. "Tell them why, Mom." The boy turned his gaze on Regina who faltered slightly.

"In the charter, the city is required only to provide transportation for the Sheriff if he," she glanced at Emma, "or she does not have her own. Sheriff Swan has a vehicle. As unreliable and unsafe as it undoubtedly is-"

"Get on with it." Emma growled.

"-it still possesses the capability to get her from A to B. Furthermore, in the charter, it is stated that a new vehicle will replace the old when the former no longer has the ability to perform its duties. However, it also states that if the car is totaled at the…fault….of the officer driving it, another car cannot be purchased until the officer at fault has paid for all damages."

If the hall had been silent before; it was nothing compared to what it was like now. Emma felt the pressure of unease pushing against her eardrums as if she were submerged in an oceanic valley. "Now," She began as she became aware of Henry's anxious eyes on her. "No one is laying blame-" But the crowd began to swell slightly and hum like a hive of angry bees. "-but we have to follow the rules and unfortunately Sheriff Graham cannot possibly pay-"

"However," Regina cut across her forcibly. "If the Festival were to proceed, it would be possible to pay off the damage done by our departed…civil servant." She paused and Emma cast a quick glance in her direction. She could have sworn the woman had almost used the word _friend_. "And we can then purchase another vehicle for our current sheriff's department."

The hall rang with silence once more ,but Henry tapped his small sneaker impatiently. "Ok, so we all know what is going on. Let's vote: yes or no." He said with his customary succinctness. Emma's green eyes met the brown of Regina's as the women shared a glance of surprise and apprehension. Neither felt as if they had argued their case sufficiently. Indeed, one of them was wondering what in the hell her case actually was.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N_- Thanks so for for the reviews I have received. I wanted to try my hand at an AU fic and though this one does not completely deviate from the actual OUAT story line, it is a different spin on the curse. I hope all of you enjoy :)

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_Neither felt as if they had argued their case sufficiently. Indeed, one of them was wondering what in the hell her case actually was._

"So if _yes_, raise your hands." The small boy called out over the turning heads of the townspeople. Several hands went up and then a dozen more and then it was majority. Henry lost count and turned around to Emma. "We did it!" He shouted and hugged her and then to Regina's surprise, flew into her arms as well. "Thanks, Mom, I'm glad you decided to help." His earnest eyes bored into hers as she stared down at the only thing that meant anything to her.

"You're welcome, Henry. Anything for you." She whispered and brushed her fingertips across the hair on his forehead before straightening and stepping over to Emma who had been pretending not to watch mother and son out of the corner of her eyes. "Sheriff Swan, it seems I misjudged your endeavor."

"Is that a fancy way of saying you changed your mind, Madam Mayor?" The blonde arched a brow.

"If you consider the vocabulary of an average fifth grader to be fancy, then perhaps I should reconsider offering my support."

Emma grinned in spite of herself. There was something strangely charming about Regina's ability to be chagrined with bitchy frostiness. "Right. So you're going to help?"

She looked down at Henry. "It seems so."

"Great, I think we should make a sign-up sheet and let people jot down what they want to do." The blonde said as people began to mill about and exit the hall. Mary Margaret gave a slight nod to the blonde when she caught her eye and headed out of the building. Emma appreciated the brunette's concern, but she could handle Regina on her own, honestly.

"A sign-up sheet yes, but perhaps we should designate certain events and allow people to choose from those. That way we won't have four different 'ducky ponds'."

Emma cocked her head, unwilling to concede that the woman had a point. But before she could open her mouth, Henry chimed in. "That sounds like a good idea! We'll have a blast coming up with all of those events!" He gave a fist pump and looked at them both excitedly. "Emma, you should come over on Friday and we can come up with all of them!"

Green eyes widened immediately and she took a slight step back. "Slow down there, kid. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?" He frowned and turned to Regina. "You are both so busy all the time. Mom never does anything on Friday night."

Regina narrowed her eyes slightly and shot a look at Emma that told her a smart comment at this point would be very dumb indeed. "Oh?" Emma raised her brows in surprise ,unable to resist the possible set up. "Really?" Regina watched her like a hawk as several possible comments tumbled through the sheriff's mind. "Hard to believe…" She was suddenly very aware of Henry's presence. The boy prevented the woman from verbalizing any of the thoughts in her head.

Regina seemed to be thinking along the same lines and a smile curled at her lips. "Henry, why don't you go grab my bag. I believe I left it backstage." The sharp boy looked from one woman to the other suspiciously. There were a few other people that still were milling about but for the most part, the meeting hall had cleared and the stage lights had been dimmed. All that remained were the house lights; the angle of the beams cast Regina's face in half-shadows. Henry ambled off and the brunette turned back to the woman before her with pursed lips. "Go ahead, Sheriff."

"What's that?" Emma asked innocently.

"I'm sure you have several unamusing comments with which you wish to pepper me."

The blonde hooked her thumbs in her belt loops and rocked back on her heels with a devil-may-care smile and raised her brows. "I don't know what you mean, Mayor."

"Please, Henry set you up perfectly to make a comment on my obvious lack of a social life and you have no remarks whatsoever?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Madam Mayor, but I hardly give thought to your social activities." Emma said half-lying.

"Don't play coy, Miss Swan." Regina took a half step nearer her and the blonde was reminded forcibly of the time the brunette had performed a similar move at the mines. However, instead of a worried and sincere expression, the woman wore a seductive smile. Emma forced herself not to take a step back.

"I'm not playing anything, Mayor." She was pleased at least that her voice was normal considering how very close the woman's red, red lips were to her face.

Regina narrowed her eyes slightly and arched a brow before stepping back and smirking again. "Pity," she said quietly, "I do so love your attempts to best me."

_Is she flirting with me?_ Emma wondered suddenly, but before she could come back with a clever comment, Henry came galloping up with Regina's fashionable and extremely large handbag swinging wildly. "Here, Mom." He held it out to the brunette then turned to the blonde. "You ok?"

Emma blinked, she had been locked into the brunette's dark gaze and when the woman had torn her eyes away she felt slightly punch drunk. "Uh, yeah, so," she turned back to the Mayor. "Friday night then?" Henry beamed and Regina's face went suddenly blank.

"Yes, Sheriff, five o'clock would be an acceptable time for you to drop by."

The blonde hitched a cocky grin on her face, "It's a date then." She just caught a glance of the brunette's narrowed eyes and pursed lips before she ruffled her son's hair with a wink, turned on her heel, and disappeared behind the thick, red curtain.

XXX

Friday morning came and Emma was sitting behind her desk eating her usual breakfast of bearclaw and coffee with honey when she heard the outer door swing open. Assuming it was Ruby coming in to shoot the breeze with her in her customary flirtatious way, Emma did not look up but continued to flip through the tedious report of minor vandalism that had swept through the back alleys of Storybrook. When she heard the door to her office open, the blonde looked up with a half-formed greeting in her mouth.

When she saw the serious mayor stepping through the door however, she gulped down her goofy hello and a great deal of pastry. Emma choked and sputtered while Regina stood by watching as though the sheriff was a mildly interesting television show. Finally, eyes streaming, nose sniffling, and pride smarting, Emma looked up at the brunette.

"I'm sorry I startled you so, Sheriff, I had no idea my presence had such an effect on you."

Emma glared as Regina stalked around to drum her fingertips on her desk before she sat down in the visitors' chair and crossed her ankles. The blonde had a million comments to throw at her, but due to the fact that she was having difficulty breathing, she couldn't get any words out. All she managed to do was gasp and give her massive stink eye.

While the mayor waited for the sheriff to regain the ability to speak, she looked about the office and wrinkled her nose slightly at the disarray that met her eyes. "I see that instead of using the filing cabinet, you are now stacking folders on the floor; how unorthodox of you." She was enjoying needling the woman while the blonde was forced to take it lying down without her voice.

Finally, Emma regulated her breathing and cleared her throat for the last time. "Is there something you needed, Madam Mayor?"'

"Of course, dear, why else would I have dropped by?" the woman asked with disdain.

"You're not breaking our date tonight, are you?" Emma shot back and shuffled some of her documents to the side.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I'm so looking forward to sharing your company." The dry response would have scorched a lesser mortal than the sheriff. "I simply wanted to clear the air so that there was no confusion on your part."

Emma's defenses went up automatically. _What is she about to pull?_ She wondered to herself. "I'm all ears; please feel free to get whatever it is off your chest."

"I wanted to convey to you that whatever time you spend with my son tonight is time that will be docked from your weekly allotment of visitation hours."

The office rang with silence. Emma felt a flush rise on her face and chose to clasp her hands on the desk before her rather than clasp them around the brunette's shapely throat. "I see." Emma's voice shook slightly as she tried to remain calm. "And this rule comes from….?"

"It's a clause in the contract you signed."

"Really? Because I don't remember reading that part." The blonde forced herself to remain calm with a tremendous effort.

"Dear, forgive me if I do not have complete faith in your reading comprehension skills considering the lack of preparedness you display during our business meetings."

"Regina, I read and re-read that document. There was nothing in there about additional hours being taken away."

"Ah," The brunette smiled as though Emma had fallen into her trap. "But these aren't _additional_ hours, you see, Miss Swan." She leaned forward. "They are _hours spent with Henry._ You are allotted a certain amount each week and no more. But you are to use them however you wish and if you wish to spend them with him tonight-"

"But I'm not allowed to _use them however I wish_ am I?" Emma stood up behind the desk and leaned on it.

"I don't see what you mean."

"_You_ have very specific hours and time frames that I am allowed with my son. My time is very scheduled; I don't get to spend those hours however I want."

"That was all outlined in the-"

"Then maybe we should redraw that document." Another silence filled the room at these words and Regina made an impatient noise.

"Sheriff Swan, do you remember how tedious that process was?"

"Vividly. I also remember distinctly that it was mostly due to your reluctance to sign that document." Emma said and the woman glared at her as she stepped around the desk and perched her backside on it, forcing the woman to look up to her. She could tell that this was not how Regina imagined the conversation going. "Why is it that you feel the need to restrict our time together? You will be supervising the interaction anyway, why does it matter that I spend a few more hours with Henry this week?"

"It matters, Sheriff," Regina stood so that the height difference was not so sever. "because the more time you spend with him, the more he comes to rely on you, and the more crushed he is when you leave as you inevitably will."

Emma shook off the sting of the judgment and crossed her arms over her chest. "Really? I thought it was because you were afraid he would choose me over you."

Regina moved abruptly and was soon very close to the blonde who was now trapped from retreat by her own desk. "Well, thank you for your obviously well-informed assessment of my emotions and motivations." Her eyes flashed in anger and her usually husky voice deepened dangerously. Emma felt something strange lurch in her stomach. "But I assure you, Sheriff Swan, that I do not find you threatening in the least bit; furthermore," She leaned in a bit more so that Emma found herself resisting the urge to physically force the woman from her space. "So sure am I that you pose no threat to me, I will choose to overlook the clause in our agreement."

_Don't say anything, Swan._ "Oh, overlook it, will ya?" _Shut up, shut up, shut up! _Emma's brain was screaming, but at the moment, her brain didn't seem to be connected to her mouth. "Well, I appreciate your magnanimous consideration." She snapped knowing she would pay for those comments later. "Now, you can march your sweet ass out of my office and let me do my job." She stood up from her lounging position and Regina was forced to step back or come chest to chest with her. However, the brunette did not look abashed or wrong-footed at all. In fact, she was smirking in a manner that had the blonde feeling very much out of sorts. "Something else, Madam Mayor?"

"Oh, no." She said with an arched brow and Emma waited impatiently as Regina's eyes roved over her body. "This will simply be the second time this week that you have commented on my ass; I had no idea you found it so enticing."

The blonde suddenly found it very difficult to look the brunette in the face. She looked down at her desk. "It's an expression. If that is all, I have work to do." She waited until Regina's heels clicked away from her desk and the door opened before glancing up. The brunette was stepping out the door and Emma's gaze unconsciously found the woman's shapely backside in her powersuit pants. But when Regina's form paused, green eyes snapped up and met the smirking brown gaze of the mayor. With a flip of her dark hair, the woman strode out.

"Fuck." Emma said under her breath.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, at four thirty, the blonde locked up the station and got into her buggy. As she was shifting into gear, her phone rang.

"Sheriff Swan." She intoned without checking the I.D.

"Emma."

"Mary Margaret." The blonde said with a rush of gratefulness. The world would always seem right if only there was Mary Margaret.

"Rough day?"

"You could say that."

"Ruby mentioned that she saw the Benz at the station this morning."

"Yeah, I was paid a visit." The blonde stopped at a red light. "Her Mayorship wanted me to know that the time I spent with Henry tonight would be docked from my weekly allotment."

"No!" The brunette's tone of outrage soothed the woman somewhat; it was simply nice to have someone offended for her sake.

"Yep, apparently it's something in the contract about visitation I signed."

"That's ridiculous! And classic Regina."

"Yep," Emma said again, "But she changed her mind and decided she wouldn't count the hours."

"Really?" Mary Margaret's voice registered surprise and confusion…and something else. "She's been doing that a lot lately."

"What?"

"Changing her mind. First about the festival and now about this contract thingy."

"Yeah…" Emma said slowly. "I guess she has….makes me nervous when she's nice."

"Well, it's not nice, what she's being is it though?"

Emma considered this as a flash of Regina's smirking mouth crossed her mind's eye. _No, definitely not nice._ "I suppose not." She pulled onto Mifflin Street and her eyes immediately slid to the large house that dominated the otherwise modest neighborhood. "But still, usually all I get is this bitch on wheels attitude and now it's like…"

"Don't tell me she's being sweet?" The woman asked and Emma could all but hear her furrowed brows.

"God, no. But it's like…" she searched for the right word as she pulled into the driveway of the ostentatious house. "Playful?" there was silence on the other end of the phone. "Or teasing."

"But not in a good way, right."

"Definitely not." Emma confirmed automatically. "But I'm here now…"

"Right, well, have a good time." The brunette said with a tone that told her friend that she seriously doubted it would be fun at all.

"Thanks." Emma said and hung up before tucking the phone into her jacket pocket and considering the woman's words. _Not in a good way, right? Right._ The blonde confirmed to herself as a flutter disrupted her stomach. "Definitely not." The woman mumbled to herself and exited the small car.

The doorbell barely rang out its first note when Henry was wrenching open the door and pulling her inside. "Just hang your coat there." He pointed up at the hook and waited for her to follow instructions. Emma hung up the red leather rather hesitantly: she often thought of it as armor against Regina's barbs and felt somewhat out of sorts without it.

But leaving her imagined line of defense in the foyer, she allowed the small boy to lead her into the kitchen to find Regina bent over and peering into the oven. Emma's eyes found her ass immediately as though they were magnetized and as the woman stood and turned, the blonde was certain the scene had been staged because Regina smirked at her knowingly.

"Sheriff, how do you feel about apple dumplings?" She asked, dusting her hands on her apron.

"I'm very fond." The blonde said, noticing that the brunette had a small smudge of pastry dough on her jaw.

"I'm sure you will find mine to be more than satisfactory." Dark eyes slid over the blonde as though she was a hunk of meat to be devoured.

_Two can play this game._ "My mouth is watering just thinking about your dumplings." She said, green gaze locking into the brown.

"Yes, well, they're not quite ready yet. I'm afraid your gratification will have to be delayed a while longer."

"No problem. I can be very patient." She smirked to the woman then turned to her son. "So? Ideas? Let's get cracking."

"Right!" he said, "I've got something I think will help; I'll be right back!" He scampered out of the room, leaving the air heavy with tension in the kitchen.

"Something to drink, Sheriff?" Regina turned her back and reached into the fridge. "You seem like a beer drinker-" She turned back around to find the blonde had move quite close to her and was now crowding her space on the pretense of peering into her oven. Regina regained her composure and held out the long-neck and bottle opener to the blonde.

Emma took both and opened the beer before taking a swig. "Your pastries smell delicious."

"Of course they do, dear." Regina tried to seem flippant, but it seemed much more difficult with the woman this close.

"The dough is rising nicely." The blonde commented as she let her eyes roam the woman's body. "And the color is very pleasant; a pretty golden tan." She stepped closer to throw the bottle cap away but didn't move back again. "It would seem that your baking skills are flawless. However…" The blonde stepped even closer and Regina fought to stand her ground. "you did get a bit of dough on you." A gentle thumb reached up and wiped the pastry from the brunette's face.

"That is quite alright, Miss Swan." Regina swatted her hand away and wiped at her smudged jawline. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

"No problem." Emma held up her hands and moved back against the counter to drink her beer as the sound of Henry's footfalls met their ears to alert them to his approach.

"Here!" He came trotting in with a large book held aloft. "I think we should do a fairytale theme for the festival."

"Fairytales, huh?"

"Why fairytales, Henry?" Regina asked quietly. _Not this again_, she thought as she exchanged a wary glance with the blonde. Hadn't it taken months of therapy to convince the boy that fairytales didn't exist? Henry had been crushed to let go of his fantasy and now here it was again.

"Because isn't that what Halloween is about? Being whatever you want for one night? Living your dream?"

Both women were shocked with the depth of his words. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Emma said and beamed at him. "So we'll do the booths as themed from the fairytales?"

"Right."

"For example?" Regina asked, leaning on the counter and watching her son with interest as he scrunched up his face.

"Well, a hayride like Cinderella's pumpkin carriage and rope climb like Rapunzel's tower and a pony ride with Prince Charming…" he began rattling off ideas and the brunette reached into a drawer and withdrew a pen and paper to jot down his ideas as Emma flipped through the book to look at the stories.

"What about a test your strength with the Seven Dwarves?" She muttered.

"Yeah!" He beamed at her. "And we have to have a corn maze with all the villains."

"I don't know about that, Henry, that might scare some of the children." Regina said with knit eyebrows.

"Not really scary villains." He rolled his eyes. "But like Granny dressed as Ursula and you dressed like the Evil Queen or something." He looked at her shyly, as though acknowledging that it hadn't been too long ago that he had actually accused her of the alternate identity.

"I think you could pull that off, Madam Mayor." Emma grinned. "I'll be Scar, like from the Lion King."

"Scar?" Regina smirked. "I was thinking more Cruella Deville. You're both tall and lanky and wear the same mangy coat every day."

The blonde wrinkled her nose. "Eww. Scar is at least fierce." She turned back to Henry. "I think this will work kid." He beamed at them both just as the timer on the stove went off.

Regina jumped up, "Those will be the dumplings. Henry, grab the ice cream." She instructed and set out three plates and spoons. The brunette pulled the pastries from the oven and a warm, spicy smell pervaded the air and Emma did indeed find that her mouth was watering as the mayor divvied out their treat.

X

The blonde smacked her lips frankly as she licked her spoon clean. "Dear, god, Regina. That was the best I have ever had."

The brunette's eyes glittered playfully. "Of course it was, dear." She said with a smirk. "Do you think you could handle more?"

The blonde opened her mouth but shut it abruptly. "Better not, wouldn't want to dominate all your dumplings." She retorted and the woman's smile broadened.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Sheriff. I'm sure my dumplings would fare far better than you think."

Henry began to look curiously between them; sharp enough to know they were no longer speaking of pastries. Emma changed the subject. "Well, you should probably get to bed, right?" She ruffled the boy's hair. "We'll put the sign up on my door and have people stop by to look it over."

"Can we do this again?"

"I think we have enough events planned-" Emma began.

"No, I mean hang out, all three of us."

The kitchen went silent. "Henry, I'm sure Miss Swan would prefer that her time spent with you would be without me." Regina said as gently as she could.

"But we had so much fun together tonight." He pleaded and Emma found that she would gladly give up the majority of her alone time with him just to see him this happy.

"Whatever you want, kid. If you want all three of us to hang out, we can." She shot a look at Regina, daring her to contradict, but the brunette simply nodded.

"Now that that's settled, up to bed."

"Alright." He whined slightly but kissed Regina on the cheek and gave Emma a massive hug. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The women said in unison then glanced at one another as he smiled and exited.

Emma drained her beer and looked up when she heard Regina cracking another. The brunette slid it to her and the blonde looked at her questioningly. "I don't drink beer. I bought them for you."

"For me? People will begin to talk." Emma jested and slurped down the brew. The brunette sent her a scalding glare.

"It is what a good hostess would do, Sheriff." She said flipping her hair out of her face. "Now, do you really think that we can pull this off?" She asked showing an uncharacteristic amount of uncertainty.

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

Emma sipped her beer and thought about this. "Because the citizens of Storybrook love Henry. They want to see him happy. And they loved Graham and I think that they understand that this event is a way of putting him to rest finally; letting him go in peace and without debt or judgment."

Regina was quite a moment. "I honestly don't understand all the hype of Halloween, but I do know that other people like it well enough. This should help with participation."

"You don't like Halloween?"

"Costumes and candy and pranks?" The brunette scoffed. "I can think of better ways to spend my evening."

"Like sharing dumplings with your son and his birth mother?" Emma quipped.

The corners of the brunette's mouth twitched. "Precisely my idea of a splendid evening."

"Come on, Regina. Have you never been scared?"

"When Henry was in the mine-"

"I don't mean rationally scared." Emma dismissed. "I mean like when you watch a horror film and you're afraid to go to sleep that night."

"That sounds ridiculous." The woman sniffed disdainfully.

"You've never seen a horror movie." It wasn't a question. Emma's mouth dropped open. "How old are you?"

"That is neither here nor there-"

"And you've never seen a scary film? _That_ is ridiculous!" She laughed. "You have to watch some! I'll bring you mine and you can brush up-"

But Regina held up a hand, "I hardly think filling my mind with the rubbish that is likely to exist in your movie collection will benefit me in any way."

"But it will! Halloween is like Henry said, acting out your fantasy in a way. But it's also about celebrating the things that scare the shit out of you!"

"And why, Miss Swan," the woman glared, "would one _celebrate_ those things?"

Emma scratched her head. "I dunno. But it's kinda like it makes it less scary to face them and own up to them because you realize you're not alone." Regina eyed her curiously for a moment. "Anyway, you can borrow my movies or I can send you a list. Do you have Netflix?"

"Yes."

"Perfect! Some of them will be on there but I have a lot." She ticked off her fingers. "Of course there are the classics like _Night of the Living Dead_, _Psycho, _and _The Exorcist._ Then you have the good old fashioned slasher movies such as _Halloween_, _Nightmare on Elm Street, _and _Friday the 13__th_. Then we move into the gory ones like _Scream,_ _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, _and the _Saw _movies. But my personal favorites are the ones that just bombard you with tons of creepy images like _The Ring, The Unborn, _and _Freaks_." Emma looked up to the brunette when she had finished speaking and noticed the woman's look of skepticism. "You're not going to watch any of them are you?" She asked.

"As I said before, I see no value in filling my brain with that sort of garbage."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "You're afraid."

"Please, Sheriff Swan, I'm not afraid-"

"Great, I'll drop them by your office with a list of others you should check out." She stood and finished her beer before stretching her lean legs. "Thanks for the drink and the apple dumplings." She exited the kitchen as Regina walked her to the door. "The pastries really were delicious, all joking aside."

"Joking? I wasn't aware you were being humorous, dear."

"Right." Emma rolled her eyes and took down her jacket from the hook right inside the door. "Whatever you say." She stepped out into the crisp air as the brunette shut the door behind her. "What a fucking tease…" she mumbled to the early fall air.


	5. Chapter 5

Regina looked up at the loud knock on her office door. Fearing that the sound was too familiar, the brunette set aside the document she had been drafting. "Come in, Sheriff."

"How did you know it was me?" Emma asked as she sidled through the door with a large paper bag in her hand.

"Because only you feel the need to aggressively batter my door when you announce your presence."

"I'll show you batter." The blonde mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Never mind," Emma waved a hand. "I brought you those movies to watch."

Regina pursed her lips. It was the second week of September; several weeks out from their initial meeting about the harvest festival, which was picking up steam much to Henry's delight, and Regina had hoped the blonde would have forgotten her commitment to educate the mayor in horror films. "Fantastic." She gestured for the woman to leave the bag in the visitors' chair. But much to the woman's annoyance, Emma sat down.

"Yep, let's see here…" She began pulling out movies at random. "I've got _The Hills Have Eyes, Children of the Corn, Evil Dead, _the original and new edition." She nodded to her. "And lots others. I've also made a list of ones that I don't have but that you should watch." She waved a folded piece of paper on which Regina could make out the Sheriff's scrawling handwriting.

"Terrific." The woman said with a dry twitch of her lips.

"I also wanted to talk to you about spending time with Henry."

"Do you need to reschedule this week?" Regina asked as she shuffled the papers, took up her pen, and began crossing out and editing the paper.

"Well, I was thinking about what he said last time about…all of us…together." Emma said hesitantly. The pen on the paper stopped but the brunette did not look up. "I understand that it would be docked from my hours or whatever…but Henry really seemed to want that." She finished quietly.

"Yes, he did." Regina conceded.

"So I was thinking, since we did it at your house last time-"

"I would prefer that we meet at my house again." Regina spoke across her. "In the case that the interaction runs long, as it did last time, Henry would be able to get right into bed."

Emma knew that this was only a minor fraction of the woman's reasoning. Regina just didn't like feeling wrong-footed and being at the blonde's house would only to heighten her sense of vulnerability. The sheriff knew the brunette just wanted to be on familiar turf and she was ok with that if it meant making Henry happy. "Right, of course." She nodded. "So maybe this Friday? Unless you have plans…"

Regina arched a brow and flipped back her hair. "I can clear my calendar to make time for my son, Sheriff Swan."

"Well, clear it then, Mayor." Emma smirked, stood, and strode out of the office.

XXX

Emma rang the doorbell at ten till five, as before and, as before, Henry opened it immediately and led her inside. He had set up a game of Scrabble on kitchen table and Regina was bent over the table arranging a plate of cookies. When her eyes met Emma's, she smirked, but this time; the blonde smirked back and onced her over again. Regina turned sharply away and took her seat; bringing her glass of red wine to her red lips.

The blonde flopped down ungracefully and popped the top of the long-neck that had been set aside for her before gesturing to Henry to begin the game. They drew their letters, Henry made the first move, and then it quickly became apparent that Regina was the boss at Scrabble. She was winning by over two hundred points and Emma was barely ahead of Henry by ten or twenty.

"That is not a word, Miss Swan." Regina commented when Emma made a desperate play.

"Geep?" Henry asked. "What's a geep?"

"A geep is a cross-breed between a goat and a sheep." The blonde said with certainty. "Look it up."

Henry squinted at her then darted a glance to the brunette who was finishing her second glass of wine. She waved a hand. "Go on, you can give it to her. It's not as though she's going to win anyway."

"Good point."

"Hey!" Emma said, torn between amusement and indignation. "I might come back and beat you!" She said to Regina.

"Let's be serious, dear. You're not going to beat me." The woman dismissed and laid down her next tiles _q-u-o-t-e_, she spelled; landing the _q _on a triple letter and the _e_ on a double word. "Case and point." She said as Henry yawned.

He tried in vain to stifle it but to no avail. Both women looked at him sharply. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Bed time." He grumbled. Regina rose.

"I'll come up."

"Good night, Emma." He hugged the blonde and followed the brunette upstairs. Emma watched Regina's heels disappear up the steps before standing and stretching herself. She checked her watch and found it to only be nine o'clock; she felt wired. Taking her beer, her third, in her hand, she stepped into the den to see how far Regina had made it with the DVDs she had lent her.


	6. Chapter 6

The brunette came back down the steps from tucking in her son to find that the blonde was no longer at her table. Hearing the rustling of paper, she followed the sound into the den to find the woman on her knees, sorting through the movies. "Miss Swan?"

"You haven't watched any of these have you?" She asked with an accusing tone.

"No, I have more important things-"

"We're going to watch one right now." Emma said standing abruptly and finding the room swam just the slightest bit.

"What?" Regina asked as her brain moved slowly. She could have kicked herself for having that second glass of wine.

"You, me, scary movie right now."

"Miss Swan, I'm not-"

But Emma was already popping a DVD into the player, turning the television set to the appropriate channel and turning to glare at her. "Yes, we're going to watch a horror film because, you, Madam Mayor, are not too good for entertainment just for the hell of it."

Regina didn't know if it was the wine or the way the blonde was so adamant. Or perhaps she was slightly curious about the horror films. Any which way about it, she sat down on one side of the sofa and gestured to the other end for Emma to sit. The blonde did and stretched her legs out in front of her.

"Which movie are you inflicting upon me, Miss Swan?"

"Poltergeist." Emma grimaced. "It was the first legitimate horror film that I watched and it scared the shit out of me as a kid."

Regina sat, wide eyed as multiple disturbing images were ground into her brain. She jumped when Robbie was grabbed by the tree and let out a small gasp when Carol Anne was sucked through her bedroom closet. A shiver of fear snaked up her back when the girl's voice could be heard through the television set and by the time that the second attempt at ambush was underway, the brunette was sitting with her feet tucked under her and her arms about her middle; waiting to see if the family got out alive.

When it ended, the room went dark and Regina could hear the blonde rise and click the lamp so that dim light illuminated the room. The brunette had half a mind to run up and check on Henry right that moment. But she tamped down the reaction and looked up at the blonde who was grinning. "Yep, still scary this many years later." She turned to Regina as she placed the DVD back in its case. "What did you think?"

"What company could get away with building on top of a graveyard like that? There would be records." She sniffed disdainfully. "I found the storyline unrealistic."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Mayor. I saw you jump a mile in the air."

Regina arched her brows and feigned boredom. "If you are done proving how useless this form of entertainment is, I need to head to bed." She stood and walked Emma to the door.

"I'll leave those movies, you might find something your cold heart can relate to." The blonde said snarkily.

"I doubt it." She shut the door in Emma's face.

"As do I." She muttered to herself.

X

Regina awoke the next morning slightly uneasy. She had not slept well at all but had finally resigned herself to the fact that nothing of the sort that had happened in the movie was going to transpire in Storybrook before falling into a fitful sleep.

As she got into the shower that morning, however, she considered that she had found the movie entertaining and that perhaps she should watch a few of the others. Making up her mind that she would, but that Emma Swan must never know, Regina stepped out of the shower and got ready for work.

XXX

Emma crouched down on all fours and growled menacingly at a group of giggling children. They squealed with delight as she pretended to pounce and toppled dramatically into the walls of the maze built of solid, square, hay bales. The festival had been a success thus far with an overwhelming amount of participants. The blonde had never seen so many citizens coming all together. Not to mention the children; there were so many of them that the villain maze had been an incredible hit and they were having to run the children through in groups.

The blonde heard a familiar voice a row over. In low and raspy tones, the woman said: "How about an apple?" The children screamed good-naturedly and Emma could hear little feet pounding the grass around the corner. Struck with sudden inspiration, the blonde yelled, "Be prepaaaaaarreeed!" and leapt out. Fortunately for the children, they dodged. Unfortunately for Regina; she didn't know what had hit her.

Emma body checked the "Queen" in her high-collared dress and costumed jewelry. Regina hit her back and the blonde landed sprawled between her legs. The children cackled in mirth and sped off. Emma pushed her face up out of Regina's healthy cleavage and stared down at her. "Uh, oops." She grinned. "I guess I underestimated the speed of terrified children."

"It seems so." Regina gasped out; trying to regain her breath. "Sheriff, if you would be so kind…" she glanced down to where their bodies were pressed together.

"Oh!" Emma leapt back, stepped on her own tail and stumbled again. But she lunged forward and drug Regina to her feet before dusting her off. "Sorry, again." She circled around her as the woman picked hay from the eloquent knot of hair on her head. "Nothing seems out of place." The blonde murmured and then ran her hands through her temporarily black hair that Mary Margaret had artfully pinned up so that it cascaded down her shoulders and back. "Nice make-up, you look so different."

"That was the point, was it not?" Regina asked, still dusting her backside off. "Who did your hair?"'

"Mary Margaret." She looked down at her skin-tight outfit and tugged nervously at her tail. "She was convinced that to truly embody Scar, I needed to be a sexy, lady version." Emma shrugged but watched as Regina's eyes roved over her.

"Well, I don't see how that suit is any tighter than the jeans you wear."

"Funny, because I was just thinking that you look just as at-home in that dress as you do in your pencil skirts."

"Emma!" Ruby came jogging up in her wolf's costume. "They're shutting down the maze; the witching hour is about to begin!" She let her eyes roam over the blonde's body and Regina found that this irritated her somewhat.

The brunette cleared her throat. "Miss Lucas? The witching hour?"

"Holy Christ, Mayor!" She shouted and jumped back. "I didn't recognize you!" Her eyes traced the low bust line and tiny waist of the queen before Emma cleared her throat loudly as well.

"Ruby?"

"Oh, right." She snapped out of it and looked into the woman's dark eyes. "Well, some of the adults decided the maze was much too much trouble to only use it for the children. That since we built the damn thing, we should have a chance to play too." She smiled predatorily at the Mayor and Emma's face felt hot.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Leroy and some of our other friends have decided to dress up like _our_ nightmares and scare _us_. No more Scar and Evil Queen, and Big Bad Wolf." She smirked. "They're going to dress up like _real_ villains and chase us around."

"Well, I think it's time I got Henry home-"

"Henry is staying at a friend's, isn't he?" Emma asked. "That's what you told me."

"Yes, well, he needs to pack a bag-"

"His bag is in my car."

_Damn_, Regina thought desperately and glared at the blonde and it registered with the woman that her counterpart was trying to duck out.

Emma turned to Ruby, "Save me a glass of punch." She winked and Ruby made a kissy face before flouncing off. The blonde turned to the brunette. "Are you afraid?"

"Of course not, there's not a person here that would harm me." She said forcefully.

"But you are scared." Emma said in wonder. "That's the point, Mayor. Running for your life isn't half the thrill if there is no incentive."

"I do not wish to run-"

"Not even a little bit, Regina?" The brunette was stoic. "How many of those DVDs did you watch?"

"All of them." She admitted quietly with pursed lips.

"Who?"

"Who what?"

"Which monster is the most frightening to you?" Emma moved closer.

"Norman Bates."

"Really?" Emma cocked her head. "I'm afraid of Freddy." She said. "So let's run from them tonight so that we can face them the rest of the year."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- Thanks so much for the reviews so far! They keep me writing and posting. I hope all of you are enjoying this Halloween-themed fic. I simply love this season and couldn't resist producing a piece with an October flare. Please continue to comment and PM me if you have any questions or ideas :)

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"Regina?" Mary Margaret looked up in surprise. She was dressed as the Disney Snow White and had been helping at the Animal Shelter booth during the Festival. Her eyes traveled over the form of the uncomfortable Mayor then to Emma who nodded encouragement. "I'm glad you are joining us. David and Leroy are planning quite the thrill it seems." She handed her a glass of punch and the brunette took it reluctantly and sniffed it.

"It smells like bathtub gin."

"It probably is." Emma muttered.

"What?"

"I said, bottoms up!" She shouted and the adults in the vicinity tipped their drinks back on reflex.

After four more glasses, the queen was feeling quite tipsy indeed and found her way back to the table to see Ruby hanging on Emma's arm. The brunette found that this bothered her, but before she could do anything, a loud sound like the ripping of a motor cord came from behind the group. Immediately following this was a cacophony of sounds like metal clanging, chains swinging and drums beating; not to mention the feral snarls. The brunette turned to see a motley crew of charging nightmares running full tilt at them; funneling the crowd of startled party-goers into the maze where they were immediately disoriented.

The brunette watched, rooted to the spot as the characters drew nearer. But suddenly, she felt a hand tug her dress and a voice low and urgent in her ear. "Come on, your Majesty. Get your sweet ass to moving." She didn't need telling twice, Regina turned and ran like her skirts were on fire. She surged with the crowd, the alcohol disorienting her and superimposing the world on her senses. All she was aware of was the lean body of Emma pressed close to her; tugging her this way and that until they stumbled out of the crowd and onto a more secluded path.

Slowing, both women turned and regarded the noise that trotted around them. "What was in that punch?" The brunette asked; the shot of adrenaline had definitely sobered her up considerably but she was still tipsy.

"Well, an assortment of cheap liquor, for sure and maybe…a little something extra." Emma shook her head as though she were coming out of water.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked. But Emma didn't have a chance to answer. Just then, Michael Myers burst around the corner behind them with a gleaming kitchen knife.

"Shit!" Emma yelled and tugged Regina forward. They twisted and turned around several other walls until they lost him. Both women slowed once more and gasped for breath.

"Were there illegal substances in that punch?"

"Maybe…so?"

Regina put her hands on her hips and glared. "You're. The. Sheriff." She pointed at her but a chainsaw sounded close by and the women took up their frantic sprinting once more until they were a safe distance away.

"I'm not the Sheriff tonight though, I'm just Emma Swan, dressed as Scar the Lion and escorting the Evil Queen." She smirked.

"Escorting?"

"Yeah, like keeping you out of trouble."

Regina looked at her. "I'm not trouble."

_Like hell you aren't. _"If it had been Ruby that had gotten to you first, you would have been in serious trouble." Emma said without thinking. The alcohol and other substances were clouding her judgment.

"And what does that-?"

Jason jumped out behind them complete with ski mask and axe. He grunted fiercely and Regina gasped. Emma lurched forward and pulled her along, dodging a panicking Ariel, a screaming Cinderella, and a giggling Wicked Witch. Jason decided to chase the other witch and pivoted around; away from them. Emma and Regina slowed once more to lean against the wall of the maze.

"Damn, I'm out of breath."

"Can't keep up?"

Emma glared, "Hey, I'm the one leading you. Have you noticed we haven't gotten turned around once or hit a dead end at all?"

The brunette opened her mouth and then shut it abruptly; this had not occurred to her. "How do you know where you are going?"

"I helped build this thing, remember?"

"I still don't see how-"

"From above, it spells out _Henry._" She cut across her. "And right now, we're somewhere between the _n _and the _r_, I think." She looked around then her eyes landed back on the brunette as she watched Emma curiously.

"This festival was as important to you as it was to Henry."

Emma shuffled her feet and led her down a narrow row of hay, ears pricking at small sounds. "Maybe it was. It was healing for the community."

Regina considered her companion momentarily. "Graham was a significant loss to all of us."

"Yeah…he was." Emma shuffled nervously. A scream belted out the next row over and the hay bails trembled as a woman cackled in mirth. The blonde grabbed the queen and pulled her into a corner as they heard voices moving their way.

"Ruby…stop…no…" A woman's voice was punctuated with laughter. "Not here…anyone could walk up."

"Come on…" Ruby's voice sounded as she came into view, tugging a very pretty blonde as she feigned reluctance. The wolf pushed her companion against the straw and claimed her mouth.

Emma looked down at where she was clutching the queen's waist and released her grip quickly. Regina noticed the shift and looked straight into Emma's eyes before her own gaze shifted back to the two women. The young woman gasped as Ruby's hand crept up her skirt.

"Let's go." Emma whispered quietly.

"And miss the show?" the queen asked sarcastically. But she allowed herself to be led away quietly in the shadows. When they were two rows over, Emma cringed.

"God, I would rather die than admit that I had seen Ruby and that girl fucking in the corn maze." She shivered slightly.

"Is that what you were referring to when you were talking about Ruby earlier?" The brunette turned and pinned her with an inquisitive glare.

"Yeah, just be glad I grabbed you or it could have been you pinned against the wall of hay."

"Do you really think me so weak as to submit to that girl's advances?"

"Well…" Emma faltered a bit as Regina advanced on her. "I've heard that Ruby is rather…experienced in that area and because you've had so much to drink-"

"I've not had so much that I would have sex with Ruby Lucas." She said with disdain and took another step forward. "She's not so adept as you think she is, I'm sure."

Emma, who had been trying to figure out why the woman was so bothered by the idea of Ruby and her infamous sexual conquests, felt something slide into place. Was that jealousy? "I don't know about that, Regina. Some of the stories I've heard are pretty impressive."

The brunette growled quietly and backed her right into the wall of the maze so that the straw dug into her shoulders through the thin material of her tight outfit. "What she knows is surely child's play in comparison to-" but she stopped and shut her mouth abruptly.

"In comparison to what?" Emma asked, knowing full well what the agitated woman had been about to say.

"Nothing, never mind."

"You were going to say something."

"What I was going to say is inconsequential."

"In comparison to you?" Emma pushed back, releasing her back from the needling of the straw. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"That's ridiculous. It would be completely unfair to compare Miss Lucas and I. Obviously, I am in a different league altogether."

"Oh, I don't know." Emma shrugged. "You're both brunette, sultry, and have a flare for the dramatic…maybe you aren't that different from her."

"We are not in the least bit similar, that wolf and I." Regina sniffed back.

"You like to bully and tease…" Emma continued to list.

"I do not-"

"You both wear skirts."

"Many women wear skirts-"

"And you both can't seem to keep your eyes off of me." The blonde finished and Regina stared at her in surprise.

"Excuse me?" The brunette pushed her roughly against the maze wall and stepped close so that Emma and she shared the same air. "Do not flatter yourself-"

"It's ok, I see the way you look at me. Honestly, I can't blame you." Emma needled further. She couldn't explain why she felt the need to push the woman. But as she watched her face grow brighter and her eyes grow darker, Emma felt an immense amount of satisfaction.

"Need I remind you of the obsession you seem to have with my backside?"

"There's plenty of ass to be had in Storybrook. Perhaps I just like making you uncomfortable."

"Plenty of ass?" Regina repeated as if in shock. "Plenty. Of. Ass?" She leaned forward so that their mouths were barely an inch apart and pulled back her teeth to reveal an unfriendly smile. "Let me tell you something, Emma Swan. You can search the world over and never find another ass like mine. Furthermore, to assume that Miss Lucas and I are comparable in any way gives her too much credit. I have done things that would scandalize even her kinkiest wet dream."

Emma's heart beat rapidly in her throat and her fight or flight response was telling her it was best to stop talking; right now. "Please, Regina." She found herself scoffing. "I'm sure you wouldn't know what to do with a pussy if it straddled your lap and started purring."

Suddenly, Regina's hand was around her throat and her teeth at her neck; biting painfully into the tender flesh under her ear. "I assure you, dear; I am more than acquainted with female pleasure and could have you on your knees in seconds." Her thumb trapped Emma's pulse against her skin as her other hand found a hank of her hair and tugged so that she had better access to her neck. The blonde hissed in surprise and desire.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Your Majesty, but I don't bow." The blonde was glad that her voice was at least steady; despite the sucking and nibbling the woman was performing on her neck.

"We will see about that, Miss Swan." Regina said relinquishing her neck from her mouth to unleash a feral chuckle. "I do so relish a challenge."

"Bring it." The blonde said stubbornly, though her body erupted in goosebumps when the woman raked her nails up her thigh, across her stomach, and then down her back. Emma had to fight hard to keep from arching to her touch.

"With pleasure." Regina lowered her red lips to the blonde's mouth and hovered there; daring the blonde to close the gap as her hand crept up her ribs toward the soft mound of her breast. Emma was nearly panting and she dropped her head back against the straw as the brunette's fingertips glanced her distended nipple through the thin fabric.

"Emma?" Mary-Margaret's voice cut through the haze and suddenly, Regina had disappeared. The blonde caught a swirl of fabric whipping around the corner as the witch retreated and the image of her doe-eyed roommate appeared. "Was that Regina? What was she doing?"

"I tripped….and fell while we were running…and she was checking on me…" The blonde choked out. The brunette didn't look convinced, but didn't question her either.

"Ok, well…ready to go? It's almost three in the morning."

"Sure," Emma cast one more confused glance in the direction of the mayor's exit before turning back to her astute roommate. "Let's get home."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N- Thanks for the reviews! Oh, and I own nothing, by the way :)

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Regina sat at her desk pouring over a tedious document. It was past quitting time, but she had deliberately stayed behind to finish up the mandatory paperwork. She was also trying to avoid the blonde sheriff. They had had minimal interaction over the past few days which suited the mayor just fine. What had she been thinking? Pinning the woman and making threats? Regina could still feel the woman's smooth skin and erratic heartbeat under her hand and the soft curls in her fist. She could imagine the goosebumps against her teeth as she had sucked her neck salaciously. But most of all, she carried with her the burning knowledge that had it not been for that yuppy Mary-Margaret Blanchard, Regina would have claimed and devoured Emma Swan that night in the corn maze.

Blinking away a burning vision of the blonde on her knees, Regina stood and stretched her slightly stiff body. She looked down at the paperwork and decided she would take a break, work one more hour, and then head home to her empty mansion. When Henry stayed the night with friends, the brunette often found herself working late due to her reluctance to return home to her dark and lonely house. By plowing through and getting several weeks ahead on paperwork, she ensured that she would be good and tired by the time she crawled between her luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets. The brunette stepped out of her office door and sauntered down the hallway toward the ladies' room as Emma Swan entered the building.

Regina had been avoiding her and this delighted Emma. It felt nice to have something to hold over the Mayor's head for once. She was sure that had it not been for her well-meaning roommate, Regina would have all but eaten her alive in the corn maze. What was more, was that Emma would have happily complied with all the 'Queen's' wishes. Of course, Regina must never know that. The blonde let herself into the Mayor's office when she saw that the door was ajar. Looking about, she decided that Regina had stepped out briefly and that she might as well make herself at home.

The brunette returned to her office to find the blonde nuisance standing with her back to her, studying the pictures of she and Henry on the mantle. For one, brief moment, Regina almost turned around and walked back out again. But then she scoffed at her weakness. _Run from Emma Swan? I think not._ She stepped inside, put her hands on her hips, and waited for the blonde to turn.

Emma felt a tingly sensation between her shoulder blades and turned to be startled by the Mayor's quick appearance. "Jesus, Regina." The blonde took a step back and nearly stumbled into the bookshelf lined wall.

"I'm sorry dear, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Too late." Emma mumbled.

"Yes, it is. What it is that you need from me this late in the evening, Sheriff Swan?"

"This document about vandalism in Storybrook? You only gave about half the report to me." Emma held up the document in question and thrust it out at the befuddled mayor.

"That's impossible." Regina mumbled under her breath as she took the stack of papers after a suspicious glare at Emma.

"And yet, the document ends here." The blonde flipped the pages in the woman's hands and pointed out a spot halfway down the page where the typing stopped. "Right in the middle of a word, in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of the page."

Regina's eyes flew across the lines of type; reading and rereading the paragraph where she had stopped. Sure enough, as Emma had said, the page just stopped in the middle. The brunette tilted the page back and forth as though looking for the missing letters to drop out of the paper.

"Looking for invisible ink?" Emma joked.

"Of course not." She snapped.

"The words aren't there. You just made a mistake-"

"There is no way I simply stopped in the middle of the page!" She grumbled. "What else did I give you?" She snatched the stack of paper in Emma's hand, flipped through the other pages, scrutinized the type, and began to notice a pattern. "I didn't make a mistake, Sheriff Swan."

"It's ok, Regina. You're just human-" Emma began, hardly able to contain her glee to catching the tight-laced mayor in error.

"I'm not denying that the words aren't there, Miss Swan. But I did type them."

"That makes no sense." Emma shook her head. "If you typed them, they should be there."

"Unless your printer didn't print them."

The office rang with silence as the mocking grin slid from the blonde's face. "What?"

"You see, Sheriff, your printer ran out of ink. Did it not give you a warning message before today?"

The blonde's stomach sank. _Damn!_ She did remember an error message, but had canceled out of it because it had been blocking her Youtube video. "I don't recall." She said shiftily.

"Well, perhaps we should have it checked. See here?" The woman held the paper under her nose. "The type becomes a bit lighter with every line? You ran out of ink." It was Regina's turn to smirk.

"I suppose I did." Emma nodded. "Well now that we have that cleared up-" She really wanted to get out of the office quickly. She had been so sure that the mayor had made a mistake; so ready to catch her in the wrong that she had completely discounted the fact that it might have been a mechanical error or her own oversight. "I'll just be going now, I'm sure you have plenty of work to do." The blonde gestured noncommittally at the desk full of neatly stacked papers.

"Oh, I think I've done enough tonight." Regina smiled wickedly. "Would you like a drink?" She gestured to the small array of expensive liquor she kept on hand. "And then perhaps you would like to tell me how it was that you were so certain I was mistaken."

"No thanks." Emma mumbled, hardly able to meet the woman's gaze.

"Come now, Miss Swan." Regina rounded the desk and walked to the decanters so that Emma had to turn to follow her with her eyes. "Why was it so important to you that I was wrong? Perhaps you wanted something to hold over me?" The blonde didn't reply and so the brunette needled further. "Do I threaten you?"

"Go fuck yourself, Regina." The blonde quietly growled at the brunette's back.

But rather than look affronted, Regina turned to her with the same smirk. "So I do then." It wasn't a question. She took a sip from the amber liquid in her glass and considered the blonde a moment as she stood in front of her austere desk. "But why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do I threaten you? You made it clear when you chopped that branch off my apple tree that you weren't afraid of me then. What has changed?"

"I'm not afraid of you." The blonde said quietly and glared at the woman.

Regina laughed a humorless chuckle. "But clearly you are, or you wouldn't have burst in here so smugly to inform me of my," she made air quotes, "_mistake_. Perhaps it has something to do with our dalliance in the corn maze?" Emma inhaled sharply and Regina's smiled widened as she set her glass down and stalked closer. The blonde watched her through narrowed eyes. "Yes, that must be it." She was standing nose to nose with the sheriff now as the taller woman glared down at her. "I suppose the stoic Sheriff Swan did not appreciate being shoved against the hay bale and-"

"And what?" Emma cut across her menacingly. Regina curled her lip. "Because as far as I'm concerned all you did was make idle threats. You didn't hardly lay a finger on me. So go ahead, Regina, continue to talk big because so far, that's all I've seen you do." Emma spread out her arms in an open invitation and locked her green eyes into the brown ones as they swirled darkly.

"In that case..." The brunette said flippantly before she shoved the blonde roughly backward so that her rump hit the desk suddenly. "Let me not leave you _wanting_."

Regina gripped a handful of her hair as she had the night in the maze. Only this time, instead of locking her lips onto the column of her neck, she locked them onto Emma's mouth. The blonde struggled briefly, but succumbed rather more quickly than either expected. Regina fought the urge to smirk against the woman's mouth but soon found her pace matched as both women grappled for dominance.

The brunette placed a hand on Emma's knee and slid it up to the juncture of her thigh. The blonde inhaled sharply and Regina was able to claim victory. Emma grasped the woman's shirt in her fists as she was forced to lean back. The brunette was tearing her from reality. As she kissed her, Emma felt as though the earth moved.

Regina must have felt it too because she pulled back quickly and stared down at where Emma gazed up at her; panting. The blonde's lips were parted and swollen from the mayor's kisses and, as Regina watched, the blonde ran her tongue over them. The brunette smiled predatorily and dipped her mouth back down. Her lips were hardly half an inch from the blonde's when the phone on the sheriff's belt rang. They both looked down to the lit screen then back up at one another.

"Leave it." Regina said quietly, breathing somewhat heavily herself.

Emma stared up at her a moment and then smirked. "What if it's important?

"If you answer that phone, Miss Swan, I will make you very sorry indeed." Said the brunette.

"Again with the threats." Emma snatched the phone from her belt and, with Regina's face still in her own, answered it. "Sheriff Swan."

"Emma." Mary Margaret's voice came on the line. "I saw your car at City Hall and was making sure you didn't... need rescuing from the Mayor." She whispered the last bit as if afraid Regina could hear her.

"Really? Alright. I'll be right there." She said, feining concern to her roommate. "Thanks for letting me know." She hung up.

"Urgent business?" The brunette growled.

"Mary Margaret trying to rescue me." Emma smiled as the mayor backed away from her.

"That is the second time that school teacher has stepped between myself and what I want. She is beginning to wear my patience."

"So you admit to wanting me?" Emma smiled mischievously.

"Don't be ridiculous." Regina sniffed. "It has nothing to do with wanting you and everything to do with _conquering_ you."

"Right."

"Now get out of my office."

"Oh," Emma feigned confusion as the brunette stepped back around her desk and sat down. "I thought you were going to 'make me very sorry indeed'." The blonde taunted.

"Oh, make no mistake, Sheriff. I certainly will." She shuffled some papers aside and looked back up at the blonde. "Just not tonight." Emma rolled her eyes and headed out the door; slamming it unnecessarily because she knew it would irk Regina.

When the blonde was out of sight, the brunette sat back and put a hand to her heart. It was still beating rather rapidly. The blonde had been more than adept at kissing, but Regina was no novice herself. Why had the encounter affected her so strongly? She shook her head, packed her briefcase, and headed home.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N-_ It's about to get a bit trippy. Let me know what you think about the alternate sequence of events.

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Regina awoke from a disturbing dream the following morning. Flashes of people she knew flitted in and out of her brain and she rose from the bed feeling exhausted and weary. Mr. Gold had been covered in green and gold glitter. Mary Margaret, dressed in black, hugged her over a casket. David Nolan shouted at her between cell bars as her hand closed over the firm flesh of an apple.

The brunette shook her head. All the images were disjointed and discombobulated. Sometimes Mary Margaret appeared as a child and sometimes in a cloak. Regina felt pangs of pain and regret when flashes of her father and mother appeared and flitted away like the rest of the stills that were running through her mind. It had been as if she were trying to watch a movie in fast-forward with the reel jumping from one set of frames to another at lightening speed.

As it was Saturday, and Henry was still away with a friend, the brunette took her time getting ready as she tried to shake the images out of her head. Regina supposed the Fairy Tale Harvest Festival had done this to her. Her subconscious had cast her in the role of the Evil Queen that her son once believed her to be. What was so disorienting was the fact that the emotions and sensations the dreams evoked were so very vivid and real. She actually felt as though she was living through the frames.

X

These thoughts were still troubling her as she headed out her door and toward the cemetery where her parents' bodies rested. Her dreams the previous night had awoken in her a desire to see them and so she set off; half wondering what in the hell she was doing.

As she stepped inside and laid the bouquet of flowers on her mother's grave, she rested her hand there momentarily and smiled sadly. She and her mother had not always seen eye-to-eye. But she had been her mother and Regina had idolized her in a way; even when she had used dark magic on her for misbehaving- _Wait. What?_ The brunette pondered. _Dark magic? Where the hell did that come from?_ She shook her head and chalked it up to the mysterious dreams she was having.

As she stepped over to her father's tomb, she pressed her hand to the nameplate. When she did, reality shifted and without warning, she was standing in a room that seemed to be made of dark marble with her father before her. He looked at her with deep sadness in his eyes and then sank to the ground. Regina looked down at her hand where; she was clutching the bright, red heart.

Suddenly, the brunette was back in the tomb with her palm on her father's grave. She felt tears on her cheeks and wondered how they had gotten there. _What is happening to me?_ She wondered desperately as she clutched the solid rock of the vault. However, when the brunette leaned against the stone, she felt it shift and jumped back in surprise. Looking down, she saw grooves in the smooth tile of the floor. Almost unconsciously, she pushed on the tomb and it slid over to reveal a hole in the floor. How had she never noticed this? How long had it been here? Who had built it?

Question upon question swirled in her mind as she carefully scaled the steep steps down into the room. It was extremely dark and smelled of decay, but Regina lit the screen of her phone and waved it around to a well-built interior room; a room that contained small, separate chambers. Still confused, but with a growing sense of something familiar, the brunette observed there was no light switch, only candles in elaborate candelabras stationed about the room. In sudden inspiration, Regina dug in her handbag and procured a lighter.

After lighting the candles, she moved about the room; running her hands first over the spines of hundreds of books written in different languages. She then moved to the other side of the room, past a vast tapestry, which she barely gave a second glance, and into a sort of study; complete with desk, chair, mirror, more books and cauldron. _Seriously, a cauldron?_ The woman thought to herself. _Who lives here? The Sanderson Sisters?_ But a flashback of a cauldron spewing thick purple fog smelling of rot and vengeance swept across her brain and Regina was forced to clutch the desk to remain in reality.

Curious beyond what was wise, the brunette situated herself in the chair behind the desk and began to rummage in the drawers. Finding them mostly vacant save some empty glass vials and various trinkets to be studied more closely later, she slammed them hard and looked about the desk. On the wooden surface was a stack of papers and on top of those, a thick envelope closed with a wax seal. Taking the small, archaic letter-opener in hand, the brunette quickly slit the paper and emptied the contents. Contained therein, was a letter addressed to her.

_Regina,  
>If you are reading this, it means one of two things: that the unthinkable has happened and the curse is broken or that you have somehow managed to 'wake up' inside of the spell. You, of course, have no idea of that which I am speaking. Therefore, let me begin at the beginning. This will be a painful process for you as you remember your history and anguish, but it will be worth it in the end. We will have our revenge. <em>

Brown eyes flew down the page as the unknown writer recounted a detailed account of betrayal and anger. As each new detail came to light, the brunette felt it like a punch in the gut. As sensational and utterly preposterous the allegations were, the woman knew them to be true. She could feel the pain, the hatred, the sheer fury returning to her body like jolts of lightning.

Regina wept as the memory of Daniel's death washed over her. She felt shocked relief as her mother disappeared through the looking-glass and a sadness like an abyss in her chest when she took her own father's heart. The faces of Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Maleficent, and Graham swirled about her until she clutched the desk before her; willing herself not to vomit. Mustering her composure, the woman turned back to the letter and read the closing statement.

_This Savior, this child of Snow White, must be vanquished at all costs if the curse is not already breached. In order to preserve our revenge, you must destroy her. However, if the curse is broken, you must reach the failsafe I built into the curse. The failsafe will destroy the town and everyone in it; except you. You will simply have to leave the town before the destruction occurs. It won't be like ruling the town, but it is better than being imprisoned or executed. On the brightside, our revenge will be complete and utterly permanent. _

_-Regina_

The brunette finished reading and sat back in the leather chair. Her head was spinning as she considered all that she had learned, lived, and lost in the past half hour. Regina felt as though she had been tossed in the middle of the Atlantic and left to drown. The woman was exhausted as she considered the facts.

She had written herself a letter to explain everything if and when she woke up from the spell. She remembered penning it in her own hand. She had gotten the curse from Rumpelstiltskin and tweaked it to fit her own needs; it had performed its duty admirably, excepting the bit about her own memories being lost. However, everything was not so cut and dry as her younger self had implied. She had Henry now and couldn't simply destroy an entire town.

Though her wounds from Daniel's death and her mother's betrayal were still painful; they were no longer fresh. Almost thirty years she had lived in this town without magic and ruled Storybrook with a sensible fist. Though she found the citizens often irksome and dull-witted, they were her citizens. Living among them had caused her to grow...attached.

The brunette shook her head, hardly believing she could admit that to herself. I_f Emma Swan could see me-_ She stopped mid-thought and considered the blonde annoyance. Emma Swan was the one; she was the Savior. The one that had undone the brunette's amnesia with her damnable lips. Regina had been kissed by the product of true love and it had awoken her from her fog. Of course, it was only a theory, she couldn't very well test it- Her thoughts stopped abruptly once more. _Unless_..._unless she kissed Graham too...if that was why he had been acting so oddly leading up to_… Regina didn't finish the thought, but sat in silent pensivity.

Another name fluttered on the peripheral of her subconscious. _Henry_. How would she handle this with her son? Hadn't he spent months in therapy to rid him of these fantasies? And they weren't fantasies at all. She really was the Evil Queen and Emma was the Savior and Mary-Margaret was Snow White. The brunette almost felt sick. These people that she had come to think of as her people, what was she going to do about them?

Regina took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and consider one issue at a time. The best she could do was make a priority list to figure out where to go from here. The woman reached to the corner of the desk and pulled a pen out of its holder. She uncapped the expensive writing utensil, flipped through the papers to find a legal pad, and began to write with deep purple ink.

_Verify if Emma Swan is the Savior by interrogating her about Graham._

_Assuming she is, one must also assume that the curse will break._

_Damage control: Convince Henry. Convince Miss Swan._

She looked down at her sparse notes and sighed. Henry would be fairly easy. She was sure she could show him the vault and he would convinced. However, Emma Swan would be another matter entirely. But Regina understood that it was imperative for the blonde to believe before they could move forward. She knew now that the curse Rumpelstiltskin had given her was designed to fail; he wanted Emma to come and needed her to break the curse.

The malevolent imp's face grinned in her mind's eye. How much did he know? Did he remember anything at all? Or was he, like her, ignorant until the spell was broken? Regina copied these thoughts down on the page under a separate heading labeled Questions. She looked down at the paper in dissatisfaction. There seemed to be quite a few more unanswered questions and tasks to be completed than useful information on the page.

Sighing to herself, Regina stood and walked over to the tapestry she had passed without a glance when she had entered the room. The brunette reached up and pulled back the thick material to reveal an archway through which she stepped. Dark eyes scanned the room full of small boxes. Regina smiled to herself upon realizing the vault looked like a room of safety deposit boxes; the irony. A faint red glow emanated from each cubby and the sight that once upon a time filled her with smug satisfaction, now made her slightly sick. She couldn't even remember to whom each heart belonged, for she had not only brought with her the hearts from her collection, but those from her mother's as well.

It was overwhelming to think of all of the beating organs she had amassed. Stepping forward to open a box, she pulled the heart out and held it in her hand; willing it to tell her the name of its owner. But the organ simply continued to beat and hold its secrets. She looked down in disgust and realized this was how she would convince Henry. The idea sent a skittering of fear up her back, but she shoved it away. A much younger, angrier Regina would have hid her secret and guarded it with all her might. Now the woman knew, however, that the only way she could be truly happy was with Henry and the only way to maintain that relationship was through honesty.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N-_ So this is a long one, I hope ya'll don't mind. Thanks for the comments and reviews; I like to know what your opinions are. _

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"What's wrong, kid?" Emma asked.

The boy looked up at her and faked a smile. "Nothing."

"Your burger alright?"

"Yeah, the food's always great." He said dully.

"Henry." Emma leaned down in his vision, "What is wrong?"

The boy shrugged. "My mom is just acting kinda funny."

"Funny?" Emma's brows went up.

"Yeah, she's been letting me hang out with you more-" He looked up and caught the blonde's expression, "-not that I'm not happy….but it's almost like she's been….avoiding me."

"Avoiding you?" Emma furrowed her brow. "Regina? No way. Your mom is crazy about you, kid."

"Yeah, I guess I know that...it's just she's been distant."

"Distant?"

"Like she's distracted."

"Hmm.." Now that did not sound very much like Regina at all.

"And she seems kinda sad."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with you, Henry." The blonde took his hand across the table. "Why don't you ask her what's wrong?"

"She won't tell me."

"You might be surprised," The blonde commented. "But even if she doesn't, it would mean a lot to her even if you just asked."

"You think?"

"I know."

Henry's face split into a grin. "You do know some things, don't you?"

Emma grinned at him. "I guess I do."

XXX

A timid knock sounded on her office door. It was after hours and the woman was steadfastly working away. She was surprised anyone was still in the building. "Come in." Her son stepped into the office. "Henry." Regina stood quickly and circled the desk. She took his face in her hands and looked him over for injury. "Is everything alright? I thought you were staying with Miss Swan tonight."

"I was but she got a call and dropped me here. She said she's sorry about the change of plans."

"That's quite alright. I have a few more things to finish and then we can go home, ok?" Regina was excited that she would get an unexpected night with her son. "How was school today?"

"Good." He smiled back.

"Homework?"

"Completed."

"That's my boy." The brunette smiled at him, but his expression was somber. "Henry, what is it?"

"Is something wrong, Mom?"

"Of course not, what would be wrong?" She frowned.

"You've just seemed kinda...down lately. I wanted to see if everything was alright."

Regina stared at him a moment. It touched her deeply that Henry had noticed her dark mood; it meant even more to her that he had asked about her feelings. A tiny part of the woman wanted to tell him everything that was going on, but she knew that was too much for his tiny shoulders; it would be unfair to unload it on him. Instead, she realized that this was his way of unconsciously signaling to her that it was time to be honest with him about her past. "Something has been troubling me, Henry." She stood up and came around the desk to sit in the chair beside him.

"Really?" He asked in surprise. She could tell the question was presented more at his astonishment at receiving such an answer in the first place. "Can I help?"

"I think so." She said almost shyly. "Will you accompany me to your grandparents' tomb?"

"Sure…" He stood as she did and eyeballed her. "Why are we going there?"

"You will see soon enough." The woman grabbed her coat and led her boy from the office with trepidation furling in her stomach.

X

Regina let them into the stone building and went to her father's grave. "Henry, what I am about to show you will be unbelievable, but I swear on my life that I am telling the truth."

"Mom." He looked more than a bit startled. "What is going on?"

She smiled sadly. "Suffice to say that you were right about everything."

She leaned against her father's grave and it slid to reveal the stone steps. Henry looked down in amazement. She gestured for him to go ahead; he squared his little shoulders and headed down. Once Regina's foot hit the floor of the subterranean room, she paused, like Henry, to take in the sights from his point of view. What was he thinking? Was he astonished? Angry? Disbelieving?

Anxiety gripped her heart as she watched him wander freely about the vault. He ran his fingers over the desk, peered into the cauldron with a critical eye, scrutinized the bookshelves and then turned to her with an unreadable expression.

"Where are they?" He asked. Regina walked to the tapestry and held it back for him to enter the room with all the hearts. The boy wandered here too before turning once more to her. "This is brilliant."

Regina blinked, nonplussed. What had she just heard? "Brilliant." She repeated dully. Shaking her head to clear the confusion, she addressed her son. "Why, Henry?"

"If this is all here then I was right the whole time; I'm not crazy."

"No you're not."

"Why did you make me think I was."

"Because I didn't remember either. I was asleep, just like everyone else. Here-" She drew out the letter in her pocket and the boy took it. "Just understand," She cautioned. "I was an angry, loveless woman when I wrote that."

Mother and son stood in silence as Henry finished the letter. "You were so sad." He looked at her with sympathy. But Regina didn't find it patronizing. "You felt alone."

"I did."

"Like me."

Regina swallowed around the lump that had formed in her throat. "Yes. This is why I have been so distant; I have been trying to find a way to tell you."

"I get that." The boy shrugged. "I have questions." He asserted.

"I would expect no less."

"Ok," He took a deep breath as Regina motioned him into the study to sit on the small lounge. "First of all, how did you wake up?"

"I'm not sure on that yet." She said truthfully. Regina believed it had something to do with Emma, but wasn't certain.

"You have an idea?"

"Yes, but it's still in progress."

"Ok." He nodded, satisfied with that answer for now. "What is the plan now?"

"We must break the curse."

"So Operation Cobra is back on." He fist pumped and she smiled. "We have to get Emma to believe."

"Yes, but I think there is more to it than that." Regina frowned.

"What?"

"I don't know yet." She said. "We would have to ask Rumpelstiltskin what will really undo the spell, but I'm unsure whether he is under the curse or not. He certainly seems to be."

"So what's our first move?"

The brunette looked at her son. "I need to make everything right." Regina looked down at her toes. "We need to start giving everyone back their happy endings."

The boy grinned. "Great. What about the hearts?"

"The hearts will remain where they are; I cannot return them without magic and there is no magic in Storybrook."

"Then we either need to bring back magic or get to the Enchanted Forest."

"Whoa there." Regina smiled. "One step at a time." She stood and gestured that it was time to leave. "First, I right the distress I've caused."

"Starting with?"

"Snow White." The brunette all but growled.

XXX

Regina collapsed into her office chair and let out a long, exhausted sigh. She and Henry had crossed off nearly every name on her list. She looked down at the legal pad on her desk. They had finagled and manipulated until almost everyone had their happily-ever-after restored: almost.

She flipped the pages of yellow paper and glared down at the last names: Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. Letting the sheaves fall, she sat back and wracked her brain. How to proceed? Belle was locked in the bottom of the hospital and, though she didn't know Regina had anything to do with it, she also had no idea why she was locked up; it would seem fishy to even the simplest of peasants. Belle was not simple by any means.

Regina picked up her pen, flipped the pages again and began to write until she started forming a plan. The woman began thinking that they had gotten away with their do-gooding without being detected so far and they might actually be able to pull it off. Polishing her ideas and resolving to discuss with Henry what he thought about her sneaky plan, the woman stood and headed home for the night.

X

She arrived at her house to find the Sheriff parked in her driveway. When she pulled up, Emma got out and approached the car. Regina frowned and her eyes flickered to her son getting out of the other side to the yellow bug. "Sheriff Swan?"

"We need to talk." She frowned.

"Is Henry alright?"

"That depends." The blonde growled.

Regina narrowed her eyes and turned to look at Henry once more. He wore a guilty expression and her mouth went dry. She sincerely hoped that this wasn't about what she feared it was about.

"Why don't we discuss this inside?" Regina pushed past her and put a hand on her son's shoulder to steer him into the house. Once they entered, Henry perched nervously on the sofa, Regina posed by the mantel and Emma stood confrontationally in the doorway. "What is this about, Miss Swan?"

"Go ahead and tell her what you told me." The blonde said to the timid boy.

He looked up at Regina, pleading with his eyes. "I told her about what we have been doing. Giving everyone back their happy-endings."

"Is this true? You have roped my son into match-making-"

"Our son." Regina snapped. "Our son, Miss Swan."

"So it is true?" She rounded on Henry again. "Tell her what else you told me, Henry."

He looked down and Regina felt her heart throb for the boy. You're not alone, Henry. "There is no need, Miss Swan." The brunette said quickly. "I know what he told you."

Emma looked at her; confused. "You do?"

"Yes. He has been discussing the fairytales again."

"Yes, why didn't you tell me this delusion-"

"Because it's not a delusion." The brunette snapped again.

"Oh, ok, whatever." Emma threw up her hands. "The fantasy then-"

"It's not." Regina said quietly and the blonde looked at her quizzically.

"What?"

"It's real."

The room rang with silence and the sheriff looked from her son to his adopted mother several times and then narrowed her eyes at Regina. "What are you playing at?" She growled. "Is this so that Henry will trust you? So you can come between the relationship he and I have?"

"This has nothing to do with that." The brunette shook her head. "There was a curse, a curse I cast. But I was asleep just like everyone else. I woke up. I can prove it-"

"Stop." The woman backed away slightly. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Regina stepped forward. "I can show you. In my parents' tomb, under my father's grave-"

"Enough!" The sheriff shouted. "This can't be happening." She ran a hand down her face.

"Please, Emma." Regina stepped forward, her eyes shining with earnest sincerity. "I'm not lying, I'm not crazy. I can prove this. It's why Henry and I have been sneaking around trying to make everything right-"

Emma had been looking at her in wonder for a moment, but came to her senses and cut the woman off. "Enough!" She said again, "Come on Henry, we're leaving-"

"No." The boy glared at her. "I won't. You think I'm crazy; again."

"No, kid. This is all about Regina-"

"No, it's not!" He stood up and Emma looked at him in surprise. "This is about you not trusting me."

Emma turned to the brunette. "Are you happy? He's chosen you over me."

"I'm not happy at all." The brunette returned with the same keening note of honesty in her voice that Emma couldn't deny. "I do not want to destroy your relationship with him; I want you to believe him."

"You're insane." Emma breathed in anger. "And damn you to hell, Regina, for putting him through this." She looked at the boy. "I won't let this happen." The blonde said before she turned on her heel and stomped out into the night.

The boy turned to his mother. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Henry."

"It's all my fault."

"No." She knelt down in front of him and took his chin in her head. "This is not your fault. It's mine for getting us into this mess."

"No." he shook his head. "It's not your fault; it's the Evil Queen's fault." Henry hugged her and Regina clung to him as though he was her anchor. In many ways, he was. She appreciated that he made the distinction between she and the person she had been. Regina felt as though she could face anything so long as she had Henry.

"We will make this right."

"I know." He pulled back and smiled at her


	11. Chapter 11

Emma fumed. _How dare she?!_ The blonde had told Mary Margaret and David what had happened. She reflected briefly that their new, but strangely familiar, romance was due to Regina's manipulation, but pushed this out of her mind as she described in detail the conversation she had just had with the mayor.

They had been appropriately appalled and had offered advice ranging from suing Regina for custody to stealing Henry away in the middle of the night. None of it was much help and none of it made her feel much better. And so, though it was after twelve o'clock, the blonde put her jacket back on and wandered out into the night to clear her head.

After some time of mindlessly walking, the blonde found herself at the cemetery; the stark figure of Regina's family vault standing out against the dark sky. _I can prove it. _The brunette's voice echoed in her mind as Emma scoffed. Suddenly, the woman's earnest expression burst into her mind also and the blonde had a difficult time shaking off the sincerity in the dark eyes or the way her voice sounded when she had said her name. _Please, Emma._

Entering the cemetery, Henry's expression also crossed her mind. The way he had looked at her as though she was the enemy. The look on his face had broken her heart. She was unaccustomed to his hostility; having been hero-worshipped by him once she had chosen to stay. The thought of his animosity and disappointment stung like an open wound. Emma looked up, she had made it to Regina's ostentatious family tomb. Making up her mind, she shoved the door open and was surprised when it swung easily.

Taking out her small flashlight, Emma twisted it on and swept the beam across the room. She had been in here once with Graham...before….she shook the thought from her mind and stepped over to the grave marked _Henry Mills_. Emma directed the beam at the floor and noticed where there were tracks in the dust and leaf debris that had been blown under the door. Crossing to the other side, she pressed her body weight against the grave and it slid easily.

Emma's mouth fell open. She had not really expected that to happen. Still in shock, she started down the steep flagged steps and landed in a dark room. Sweeping the light about, she spied a desk and chair. The blonde walked over to the office-like section of the chamber and flashed her beam of light across the books on the shelves and squinted. The titles all seemed to be gibberish.

Gloved fingers touched the desk and a booted foot tapped the side of the thick cauldron as she snorted to herself. _Honestly? A cauldron?_ Turning, she wandered back to the stairs and looked around once more. _I can prove it_, the words echoed again and Emma scoffed once more. This didn't prove anything. Sure the underground chamber was weird, but Regina was a bit odd. It just looked like an elaborately dressed set.

The blonde looked up at the tapestry because it was the only thing she had yet to study. It seemed to be a collage of many pictures, like an ancient story brought to life by loom. The beam of light trailed over a dark, angry horse, an apple, a spinning wheel, and a wolf. _It's really well done._ The blonde admitted to herself. When her beam passed over the form of an infant wrapped in a blanket with purple trim, Emma froze and stepped closer.

_What the hell?!_ Her nose was barely inches from the cloth as she studied the tiny babe in the blanket. The trim on the cloth was royal purple and at the corner that hid the child's face was a word that the blonde's brain refused to compute. _Emma._ She stared uncomprehendingly. _How would Regina know that? I've never shown anyone besides Mary Margaret here _that. _Not even Henry._ Her mind told her this was impossible as she knew in her heart this made sense if Regina had been telling the truth.

Emma clutched the fabric and tugged on it. Trying to rip if from the valence. She had half a mind to drag it all the way to Mifflin Street and demand answers from the woman. But she was unable to pull it down easily and instead found there was an archway behind it. Pushing the fabric aside, she entered a room with small cubbies that glowed red.

Looking around in wonder, Emma scanned the beam about the room and deduced that Regina kept a collection of glowing red orbs in safety deposit boxes. _Weirdo._ Emma thought internally. _Not only is my blanket, the only link to my parents, on her goddamn quilt-thing, but she collects red nightlights._ The blonde was becoming more and more irked by the brunette's strange underground room. She stepped up to one box and pulled it open to stare down into it.

Emma's gut registered shock even if her brain couldn't comprehend what it was that she was seeing. She glared down at the illuminated object as if it had offended her personally. Slowly, she reached into the container and picked up the item; it was heavier than she imagined and warm to the touch. It also seemed to pulsate slightly, as though it was beating-

Emma dropped it in the drawer and slammed the metal back into place. She then cast panicked eyes about the rest of the room before bolting. She tore through the tapestry and mounted the steps; taking them three at a time on her long legs. Vaulting out of the hole, she scrambled to seal it with the grave and then scurried out of the tomb frantically. Once Emma had put two, hard earned miles between her and Regina's vault of horrors, she slowed to a walk and caught her breath.

The blonde leaned against a nearby tree as her head swam. Slowly, she began to walk again though she was on autopilot as she pondered the new information. _Fact: Regina has glowy-heart-things in her weird post office boxes._ Emma thought to herself. _Fact: She also has a cauldron and a shit ton of spell books written in gobbledy-gook. _ The more facts the blonde nailed down, the more nauseated she became. _Fact: There is a tapestry down there with a picture of...me?_ The woman had to stop again to catch her breath. _This is all impossible. _She shook her head and began walking again.

By the time Emma made it back to the apartment, she had made up her mind. She was going to get in her car, drive to City Hall, and confront Regina as soon as she got there the next day. For some reason, aggressively attacking the Evil Queen at her place of work seemed less stupid than aggressively attacking her at home. At least, the brunette would have a hell of a time getting rid of her body if she were in a public place, the woman reasoned.

XXX

Regina had tossed and turned all night and so it was with a grumpy expression and groggy eyes that she arose the next morning and was careful not to wake Henry. When she thought about the look on the blonde's face when she had stormed out the night before, it felt like she missed a step going downstairs. Hopefully, the sheriff would keep her mouth shut about the insanities that she had heard the night previous.

The brunette parked her Mercedes in a spot behind the building, hoping to avoid as many people as possible that day. Especially in light of the other problem she was facing. Since she had kissed Emma, Regina had registered a definite upswing in her libido; more specifically she desired Emma Swan prone beneath her. The brunette shook her head at her foolishness.

Almost every morning she had awoken from very vivid and lusty dreams of the blonde. Regina couldn't fathom for what reason she was plagued by these damnable hormones. Sure, she was having a bit of a dry spell and _had_ planned on ending her hunger with the delectable Sheriff Swan. However, in light of recent events, Regina had decided that was not the best plan at this time.

She and her brain were on the same page at any rate; but her ovaries seemed to have another idea. The woman cursed to herself and entered the very empty building before even the sun was peeking over the crests of the hills to the east. Unbeknownst to her, there was a blonde sheriff asleep in her car, awaiting her arrival.


	12. Chapter 12

_Emma lay beneath her; bound and gagged with scarlet silk. Big green eyes looked up at her; dilated eyes in which Regina could see her own nude form reflected. She watched as a wicked smile graced her own features before reaching down and tweaking the blonde's left nipple. Emma arched up with a whimper on her lips._

Regina sat up abruptly. She looked around frantically at her surroundings and leaned back into her chair with a growl of frustration on her lips. _Why is this happening? As if I needed more complication!_ The brunette stood, resolved to walk it off so to speak and winced when she noticed the state of her underwear.

"Damn." She murmured and strode out of the office.

X

Emma awoke to the sun stretching its fingers through the windshield of her car. She sat up, suddenly fully awake. Opening her car door, she stepped outside, and let herself into the empty building; it was Saturday, after all; though she knew Regina would be there. The blonde had spent the night wrapping her mind around the fact that everything Henry had been saying was true. She was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming; the idea made her want to retch.

Incidentally, charging Regina as the Evil Queen made her much less nervous than the idea of facing Mary Margaret and David now that she knew the truth. _Truth_. Her brain echoed. At least she knew how to deal with the Mayor, they were..._What the hell are we?_ Emma questioned herself as she took the flight of stairs with more confidence than she was feeling.

She couldn't deny that the woman lit her on fire. She couldn't deny that Regina challenged her intellectually and physically. They definitely weren't a couple, or even friends….were they? Emma shook her head. _Ok, yeah, so I'm friends with the Evil Queen who is also my son's adopted mother and the arch nemesis of _my _mother. One big fucked-up family._ The blonde thought to herself and shook her head again as she pushed past the stairwell door and into the hallway. Regardless of the things she wanted to do to Regina in her bed….or on her couch...or in the shower…._stay on course, Swan!_ She scolded herself. Regardless of the nature of her relationship with Regina, Emma had to get answers and hold the woman accountable for what she had done.

Her boots echoed in the hallway as she made her way down to the Mayor's office. Letting herself into the outer room, Emma glanced around and squared her shoulders. She put her hand on the inner office door and threw it open.

"Regina-" She began to the vacant room. Emma blinked. All the lights were on and yet the brunette was missing. The blonde decided she would sit and wait for the women to come back and strode to her desk. She looked down at the peculiar books and notes it held.

The woman picked up a book written in the same strange language as the ones in the tomb. She noticed where the brunette had earmarked certain pages and scribbled in notes here and there. Turning her attention then to the legal pad sporting Regina's flawless handwriting, Emma flipped through it and her eyes widened at its contents.

She counted off the pairs of names that had been crossed through. These were all the people the Mayor and Henry had helped. She took in the carefully constructed notes on the page and instead of finding an angry and vengeful Evil Queen, Emma found an atoning and tortured woman. She flopped back in the chair and tucked her hair behind her ear.

This definitely changed things. Not only was Regina the Evil Queen, but she was a Non-Evil Queen. The woman was making up for her mistakes. Emma felt very wrong-footed indeed. Gone was her sense of righteous anger and in its place was a small pang of shame. Why had she been so quick to judge the woman? Sure, if the book was right, Regina had done some pretty shitty things: unspeakable things. But if she hadn't cast this curse, Emma had a feeling Henry wouldn't have made it into existence.

Though comforted by this somewhat, the blonde felt as though the wind been taken from her sails. She couldn't confront the woman as confused as she was now. She had to get out of there and collect her thoughts before Regina returned. The very last thing she wanted to do was to face the brunette now, like this; without a proper game plan. Fate, it would seem, wasn't going to give her a chance. Before Emma could move an inch, Regina's heels could be heard clicking a death march back to the office.

The sheriff panicked. She stood and cast a look about for a hiding spot, but the office seemed unwilling to offer one. The heels were at the door now and the blonde had no chance for escape. As the door swung open, Emma dove under the desk and curled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. She would be invisible...unless Regina sat down behind her desk of course.

Emma watched as tall, black heels paced into the room and shut the door securely. The brunette walked to her desk and the blonde could hear the woman checking her phone and then placing it on the desktop. Fingernails drummed impatiently on the wood surface and Emma held her breath.

Regina was still unable to shake the arousal coursing through her veins. She tapped her nails on the table in frustration and looked at her desk chair and then back at her office door. Perhaps she should...ahem...relieve herself, so to speak? The brunette bit her lip. She knew her body well enough to know if she didn't take care of her small problem, it would be a big distraction the rest of the day.

Making up her mind, Regina rounded the desk and sat down in the chair. She didn't glide the seat into place very far under the desk due to her need to access the heat between her thighs. _I'll just have to deal with this myself._ She thought irritably and leaned back, running her hands over her own body sensually. She closed her eyes and let the memories of that night in the corn maze wash over her. Except instead of Mary Margaret interrupting, Regina imagined pressed the blonde to her knees in front of her and Emma blowing hot air along her middle and snaking a hand up her thigh. Regina mimicked the movement with her own fingers and found her sex wet and throbbing.

Emma was speechless. She had nearly panicked when Regina came around the desk and sat down. Thoughts of shoving the woman backward and running like a maniac flitted across her mind when the brunette had rolled under the desk slightly. The blonde had been forced to press herself, catlike, into the corner of the wooden box. However, when Regina had spread her legs and plunged her hand into her red silk panties Emma froze. _What the fuck?_ The blonde had gone from considering this the worst day of her life to the best. Her heart pittered and her own underpants were now considerably moist. A low and quiet moan met her ears and the blonde had to clamp hands over her mouth to contain the groan of longing she nearly unleashed. A shiver crept up her back as it truly sank in that Regina was masturbating in her office; unbeknownst to Emma's presence.

She stifled a horny chuckle as the Mayor kicked off her heels and went back to it. Longing and desire raced in her veins as she watched the movement that was taking place under the woman's prim pencil skirt. The material was hiked up over her thighs due to the spread of her legs and Emma could clearly see urgent digits moving beneath the silk of her panties. The blonde quietly hissed and then flinched when she realized the noise had been audible. But Regina had moaned at precisely the same moment and so the blonde's sound went unnoticed.

Emma watched with rapt attention the hands in her heat. Plunging and swirling. Wetness glistened on her skin as her breathing came more quickly. The blonde would have given her right hand at that point to see Regina's face. Then a word escaped the Mayor's mouth that nearly had Emma rising to join her.

"Emma." Regina moaned. A knock came on the door.

"Madam Mayor?!"

"Goddamn it!" Regina hissed quietly and jumped up from her chair. She straightened her skirt, snatched a tissue and wiped her hands hastily before answering. "I'm busy!" she all but snarled.

Emma could hear the brunette shuffling the papers and spellbooks around on her desk so that her visitor wouldn't see them. She slammed drawers and stacked documents without much looking at what she was doing. "Regina?!" The voice called again with urgency and with a start, Emma realized it was David's voice. This was getting worse and worse.

"I'm coming!" She growled and tossed some of the spell books to the carpet, kicking them forcefully under her desk; knocking them into Emma's boots. She strode around and opened the door. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know if you had seen Emma." David's voice was cold toward the mayor, but concerned.

"Am I the sheriff's keeper?"

Emma could almost see the resentment on the man's face. "No, but she was upset after her meeting with you last night and went for a walk. We haven't seen her since. I thought maybe she came to see you. She didn't leave a note? Nothing was slipped under your door or left on your desk?"

"I doubt it."

"Could you at least check?"

Emma heard Regina sigh dramatically and her mouth became completely dry as the heels clicked toward her, around the desk and then sat down in the chair. Emma backed into the baseboard of the desk, folded herself like a burrito, and held her breath. She could see right up the mayor's skirt to her sodden, silk panties. Emma gulped; the Mayor had not yet noticed her, but Regina was about to find her; and it was going to be worse than it ever could have been before.


	13. Chapter 13

_Emma gulped; the Mayor had not yet noticed her, but Regina was about to find her; and it was going to be worse than it ever could have been before._

X

"There seems to be nothing here." Regina huffed. "Now, I have work to do and so if you would see yourself out-"

"She must have gone straight to the station this morning." The man shrugged. "Probably just wanted to get on patrol."

"Yes, because Storybrook is _so_ dangerous."

"It is now." David retorted and looked at her pointedly.

"If I were you, Mr. Nolan, I would refrain from speaking about things of which you have no knowledge." Regina flipped her hair and slid her chair further under the desk. Her knees connected with something soft and warm; almost like leather. She frowned at the sensation; trying to place where she had felt that material before. It was almost like Emma's…Regina gasped.

"Are you alright?" David asked hopefully as though praying the mayor would keel over before him.

"Must have…eaten something that….that didn't agree with me." Regina feigned clutching her stomach. Her knees brushed against Emma once more and she pressed further under the desk until she could feel soft denim against her calf.

"Must have been those kittens you ate for breakfast." David replied dryly and Emma stifled a laugh; _Score one for David_, she thought proudly.

But Regina couldn't even think of a response. So distracted was she by the feel of the crouching woman at her feet. Shivers of humiliation coursed through her body as she realized exactly all that the woman had seen and heard from her hiding spot. She finally came out of her haze and looked at the man before her who was obviously expecting a retort. "Yes, it must have been; I knew better than to get them from that mangy animal shelter."

Emma, throwing caution to the winds, decided she might as well capitalize on this moment of having Regina at such a disadvantage. The blonde moved beneath the desk slightly to place a hand on the woman's delicate ankle and swirl her thumb over the flexed tendons and veins. She briefly considered that this wasn't wise. That the only way to complicate this situation further was to make moves on the Not-so-Evil Queen. But Emma could smell Regina's shame and arousal and it was an intoxicating perfume. She slid her hand higher.

"You should get yourself down to see Dr. Whale; you might have rabies."

"If only that were my biggest concern." Regina said with a sneer but it was lacking its usual venom as Emma's hand was now creeping up her calf to tease her thighs.

The brunette felt the throbbing between her legs but tried to focus on the man before her. _Get it together_, she scolded herself as the Prince was speaking again. She pulled her thoughts from the hot kisses that were now following the hands up her leg to nibble at the spot behind her knee.

"No, you have to run the town as well, don't you?"

"Who else could?" She asked stoically as the mouth progressed to her inner thighs. Regina held her hands together on the desktop to keep them from trembling. She found herself holding her breath quite a lot. "Now, if you would please exit my office; I have…business to attend to."

David whirled on his heels and stomped out loudly. Emma waited for the door to click and lock behind him before she shoved Regina's chair back and crawled into her lap, straddling her. "Miss Swan." The brunette said in surprise and Emma took a handful of her hair and pulled her head to the side to devour her ear and neck. "How dare you." She said; but it sounded like more of a moan and lit the blonde on fire.

"I heard you." She whispered into the woman's ear. "I heard you say my name, Regina." Her hand was at the woman's waist, tugging up her shirt to reach the silky skin of her stomach and chest. A hand cupped her breast and thumbed her nipple as Regina bucked into her. "You practically moaned it." A flick of her nipple again had the brunette shuddering uncontrollably.

"You don't know what you heard." The brunette said but ran her hands up Emma's lean thighs; raking her fingernails along the soft denim.

"I watched." Emma whispered, pinching her tender nipple roughly. Regina groaned and dropped her head back to look up into the green eyes above her. "I watched as you touched yourself and thought about me." She unbuttoned the Mayor's shirt and moved her bra aside to taste her turgid peaks. "Tell, me Mayor, was I this good in your dreams?"

The brunette could barely move; barely think. But she retorted, "I'm actually disappointed, Miss Swan."

Emma growled and jumped back, pulling the mayor to her feet and shoving her, stomach first, into the desk before stepping behind her. She pulled her panties down with one swift swipe of her hand until they were at her ankles. Then the blonde kicked her heeled feet apart so that the elastic was as taut as Regina's exposed backside. Emma stepped on the underwear; effectively pinning Regina from escape.

The brunette hissed and fear seized her when she realized that Emma was in complete control. She reached back to grab the woman's hips behind her; fully intending to push her backwards but rough hands shoved her skirt over her hips and she pressed those thighs to the soft, naked flesh of Regina's ass. The brunette hissed again and dug her nails into the muscle of Emma's hips.

"Miss Swan, I insist you stop." She moaned as a hand connected with her backside roughly; it sent a slap through the office and a chill down both of their spines.

"You are in no _position_ to be making demands, Mayor." Emma reached down and parted her folds with one finger; trailing it the length of Regina's sodden flesh. The brunette shivered. "But I rather think you are enjoying this." The blonde smirked and licked the finger clean. "Oh yes, I can taste your need." She reached under the prone woman to find the bundle of nerves at the front of her sex.

Regina bucked against her as the blonde's fingers deftly prodded, rubbed, and delicately rolled across her clit. It was like magic; magic that Regina had never experienced in quite this way. She moaned and pressed her feverish face into the cool top of the table. She knew she sounded desperate and wanton and she didn't give a rat's ass. This was the stuff her dreams had been made of and now the blonde was here, giving her all she desired. Emma's hands were rough yet tender; her voice deep yet coaxing. Regina couldn't stop herself from melting.

"Now tell me again, is this better than your fantasy?" Regina didn't answer and received a sharp slap to her upper thigh.

"Yes." She choked on her own humiliation and the shame only served to push her higher.

"What did I do to you?"

"This."

"Specifically?" The blonde grabbed the scruff of her shirt and pulled her into a standing position in which Regina had to rely solely on Emma's strength to hold her off the table. With her skirt hiked up, the brunette could feel the cold table top biting into her thighs as Emma's restraint forced her to arch her back and stick out her ass to remain balanced. The blonde locked an arm around her shoulders; almost placing pressure on her neck. Almost.

"No, I can't…" Regina said. Emma pressed one finger into her heat and the brunette bucked against it. It wasn't nearly enough.

"Yes you can, if you want more you can."

"You touched me." Regina finally ground out with a breathless tone.

"Where?"

"Everywhere." The brunette instinctually ran her hands over her own body and then down to find her own clit.

Emma pushed her back down onto the table and grabbed her hands, placing them one over the other to grip the edge of the desk. "It's not going to be that easy." She laughed and then pushed two fingers into the brunette's heat. Regina cried out and raised her backside in the air to give Emma a better angle.

"More." the mayor mumbled.

"More?"

"Yes." She bit the side of her arm as the blonde began pumping into her.

"Still bossing me around, I see." Emma chuckled and doubled her pace to find Regina panting against the wood of the table. "In spite of your vulnerable position." She wiggled her fingers and gloried in the brunette's intake of sharp breath. She slapped her ass possessively and repetitiously; causing Regina to buck hard and shudder against her.

"More." Was all Regina could say. Emma pulled out of her and waited. When the brunette whipped her head around to glare at the teasing blonde, Emma plunged three fingers inside her. The sheriff's knees buckled at the sight of surprise and pleasure on Regina's face as they locked gazes.

"Is this what you wanted?" She asked pumping roughly and working her clit with her other hand.

"Yes." Regina moaned and pressed her warm flesh into the desk top; her feet were no longer supporting her weight and so she hung over the desk; taking all that Emma's hands were offering. "Oh, yes." Her ass rippled with each thrust as she offered herself to the blonde, willing and prone; draped over the table like an expensive, if wrinkled, silk table cloth.

"I thought so." Her fingers plunged into her again and again. The wetness seeping down between her fingers; dripping to her wrist and forearm with hot, slick heat bearing the smell of Regina's lust. Suddenly the brunette stiffened as the throbbing became too much for her to bear any longer and the first tendrils of climax washed over her.

"Emma." She moaned and came as waves of pleasure crashed around her; dimming her view of the office, but not denying her the sensation of the blonde's unruly hands still ravishing her; prolonging the quaking orgasm for as long as possible.

Regina slumped her head to the desk and tried to control her breathing as Emma stepped away from her and rounded the top so that when Regina blinked her eyes back into focus, the blonde was smirking down at her. The brunette pushed herself from the top of the desk and snatched her undies back up to their appropriate place before shuffling her skirt back down her hips.

Emma stood back and placed her hands on her hips as she took in the mussed hair and flush on the mayor's usually stoic face. Her blouse was still undone and she looked as though she had been thoroughly fucked. The blonde felt that it was a sight she could get used to. She smirked as the brunette glared.

"You'll pay for this."

"Oh, will I? Because the way I see it, you're the only one with unpaid dues, Your Majesty." She smiled back to her.

Regina looked confused for the briefest of seconds and then suspicious. "Is that so, Miss Swan?"

"Yeah, it is." Emma took a tissue and made a show of wiping off her right hand. "According to Henry's book, you did a lot of things you were never punished for."

"Oh, is that what this was about?" Regina tugged her clothing and swept a hand to her disheveled desk. "Punishing me?" The brunette laughed coldly, channeling the Queen she no longer claimed to be. "Because if that's the best you can do-"

"That was just a taste." Emma smirked. "I haven't gotten the chance to properly punish you-"

"And you won't." Regina flipped her hair, regaining her composure quickly. "Because I can't be _punished._ Your mother and father couldn't do it and neither can you."

Emma stared for a moment. It seemed utterly bizarre what they were discussing. She shook her head. "Maybe not," She shrugged. "And maybe you're making up for all of that...stuff." She waved vaguely over the desk and Regina's expression softened. "But I have questions-"

"You are just like Henry." Regina sighed. "If your parents-"

"Mary Margaret and David." Emma corrected.

"Right." Regina glared, irked at having been interrupted. "Can take care of Henry tonight, you may come over and we can discuss….this situation."

"Your house?"

"Yes." Regina noted the hesitancy in her voice. "Not afraid of the witch, are you, dear?"

"Witch or no witch, Regina; I'm not afraid of _you_." Emma snorted and turned on her heel.

As she was exiting, she heard the brunette retort. "You really should be."


	14. Chapter 14

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ Was all Emma could think. She had gone into the office to confront Regina and demand answers. Instead, she had bent her over the desk and fucked her. The blonde shook her head. If the woman hadn't been masturbating- _No, if I hadn't been hiding under her goddamn desk like a boy in the girls' locker room._ She corrected herself. But the woman had been touching herself and moaning so deliciously; moaning Emma's name, no less. The blonde still got shivers just thinking about the sounds Regina had made.

Emma was beyond confused at her behavior. She had totally fucked up any possible semblance of a working relationship with the brunette by taking her hard in the office. But the blonde had been feeling so many different emotions at the time. Regina was not evil, but helping Henry restore that which she destroyed, she had been thinking lustily about Emma, and had not seemed the least bit displeased after their encounter.

Emma made it to the station and found David there waiting. Once she has assuaged his fear about her whereabouts, he left and she settled into her chair. She didn't have much on the agenda that day, but loathed the idea of being at the apartment with Mary Margaret. Her roommate was great and all, but she would want details and would know something was amiss.

The blonde sighed. Everything had been a whirlwind since she had come to Storybrook. Henry claiming her to be the Savior to end the curse. His disastrous foray into the mine, kissing Graham and then losing him, punching Regina...kissing Regina...bending Regina over- Emma jerked herself off the pathway of her thoughts. _Nope, not the time or place._ She corrected herself and then sighed again.

The blonde had hoped that the fall festival and the partnership that she and the brunette had steadily been building was a sign of things settling down. Emma had made friends in the town and had become invested in their lives. She had her son and a steady job. The blonde felt that she belonged...and now come to find out all fairytales were true? Emma was just about to give up on anything ever being simple.

XXX

When Henry let himself into his mother's office at the end of the day, he found her sitting with her head in her hand, staring out the window. "Mom?" He raised a brow and Regina's gaze snapped up. She smiled.

"Henry, how was school?"

He grinned back. "Even after discovering you're the ex-Evil Queen and that Snow White lives down the road from you, you still want to know how school was?"

The brunette grinned even more widely as she was forcibly reminded of a blonde she knew. "Yes, because curse or no curse, your education is of the utmost importance." She stood and came around the desk. "Now, guess who paid me a visit today?"

Henry looked up at her warily. "Emma?"

"Yes. It seems she visited my vault and is convinced that we are telling the truth."

"That was easier than I thought. She must have seen the hearts…"

"Most likely." Regina winced. "She is coming over tonight so that we might discuss everything-"

"Great! I'll get the book and we can all…." He caught the look on the brunette's face and frowned. "I'm not going to be there, am I?"

"I think it will be best if we take you out of the equation." Regina said. "You will be staying with Sno- Mary Margaret." She corrected at the last second. "That way, Miss Swan and I can discuss exactly where it is we need to go from here and we will let you in on it later."

"If you're going to tell me anyway, why can't I be there?" He pouted.

"Because our discussions, as you well know, are sometimes...volatile at best."

He hung his head. She had him there. "Alright." He exhaled a long-suffering sigh. "But you will tell me everything?"

"Yes, we will, Henry. We just need to agree on it first."

"Should take all night." He murmured as she led him out the door.

XXX

Regina answered the knock on the door to find Emma standing there and looking agitated in the cold. "Come in, Miss Swan. Something to drink?"

"Umm, got any bourbon?"

Regina smiled in answer and led her into her at-home office before gesturing to the leather couch on the other side of the room by the fire. She poured the amber liquid into the glass and handed it to the blonde. Emma sniffed it gingerly and swirled it.

"Making sure my liquor is to your taste?" Regina sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Making sure you aren't trying to drug me." The blonde quipped.

"Don't be silly, dear." Regina dismissed. "I don't have magic here; how would I get rid of your body?"

"You would go all _Secret Window_ on me and bury it in your flowerbeds."

"That's ridiculous." The brunette sipped her own liquor and met Emma's gaze with a sultry stare. "Your greasy diet would be poor nutrient for my begonias." Regina leaned forward and placed her glass on a coaster on the table before them. "Now then, you have questions?"

"I do." Emma nodded. "I just don't know where to start."

"Then let me tell you a story." The brunette said and began a winding tale; interweaving nearly every fairytale together as Emma sat disbelieving, even as she knew Regina to be telling the truth. "So you see, Miss Swan." The brunette stood to refill her drink. "All that is in the book, actually happened."

"And some things happened that aren't in the book." Emma rubbed a hand down her face. "Like your mother. The author seemed to be rather selective in telling the story."

"I'm glad we can at least agree on that." Regina inclined her head. "But now we must decide our next move; we can't simply do a write up in the paper."

"True that." The blonde stood and began to pace. "Don't need people thinking you're crazy…" Emma glanced at her. "Or crazier than you are."

"Funny."

"I wasn't joking." Emma fired back and Regina rolled her eyes. "I thought the curse was supposed to break when I believed." The blonde furrowed her brow. "That's what Henry said."

"About that…" Regina nonchalantly picked lint from her skirt. "Breaking the curse definitely has something to do with you, but it seems it's not as simple as first thought."

"So what have I got to do?"

"I don't know yet." The woman said and then gave her an odd look. "But let us examine the goings-on that you set into motion once you came to town." Emma started pacing again.

"Ok...so what happened first? The mine?"

"The clock." Regina corrected and swirled her drink. "The clock at the library began to tick."

"Oh, right." The blonde nodded. "And then there was the earthquake when Graham convinced me to be Deputy."

"And the mine fiasco." Regina said quietly. She still had not forgotten the sheer terror of discovering that Henry was in that deathtrap.

"And then Graham started seeing that wolf-"

"Wolf?" Regina cocked her head.

"Yeah, he started seeing a wolf and I saw it too." Emma said, "Was that part of this?"

Instead of answering, Regina dipped her head and spoke into her lap. "In the Enchanted Forest, Graham was my Huntsman."

"Huntsman? Like that lied about killing Snow White?"

"The very same." The brunette nodded. "Here, he was my Sheriff, I'm sure you can see the correlation." Emma was watching her closely now. "He had a wolf."

"Like a pet?"

"Like a….companion. The animal didn't belong to him, but it was his partner in everything. It does not suprise me that Graham's _awakening_, for lack of a better term, involved this creature. Nor that he was confused by its presence and began to act so erratically. What confuses me, is how you both came to be at my vault that day. It seems that was the confrontation that drove him to get in that car and-" The brunette stopped talking abruptly.

Emma picked up the story. "He was convinced you had his heart in your vault. He was there looking for it."

"So he remembered me taking it-"

"You _took_ his heart?!"

"While we were in the Enchanted Forest, did you not know? I was the Evil Queen." The woman declared with bitterness.

Emma felt slightly abashed at her outburst, seeing the woman's expression. "Yeah, sorry. I guess there is just a difference between hearing about it and knowing someone that...yeah…" She finished lamely. "Anyway, he started remembering then?"

"He must have." Regina looked at Emma with curious eyes. "I wonder how that happened spontaneously."

"I dunno." The tall woman shrugged. "You got yours back spontaneously, didn't you?"

"I didn't." Regina cleared her voice and said.

A tick of silence passed. "What? But then how do you know about-?"

"I got my memories, Sheriff Swan." The brunette said impatiently. "But it didn't happen _spontaneously_." Emma just stared. "I began having flashbacks after our encounter in my office about the missing report." The blonde still continued to gaze at her in confusion and Regina gave a frustrated sigh. "Tell me, Miss Swan, did you happen to kiss Graham?"

The room rang with silence again. "Does it matter?" The blonde growled.

"Yes."

"Yeah," she said grudgingly. "But, in all honesty, he kissed me. Kinda grabbed me and put his lips-"

"But you kissed." Regina waved a hand, as though loathe to hear the rest.

"So?" Emma asked defensively.

"Think about it." The mayor snapped and stood to confront her. "You kissed Graham and he started remembering. You kissed me and I started having flashbacks." Emma put a hand to her mouth.

"So I did it?" She whispered. "I broke the curse-"

"No." Regina stopped her. "You awoke us from the curse. Unfortunately, your lips do not seem powerful enough to raise the entire town."

"My lips are plenty powerful." Emma defended her mouth. "Would you like me to demonstrate?" She advanced on the woman menacingly, but Regina held her ground.

"No, Miss Swan, that is not relevant." She spoke with an even tone, but Regina remembered all too well what the blonde was capable of. "What we need to figure out now," she said forcing them back to the topic at hand, "is how we use this information to awaken everyone else."

"I can't go around kissing everyone." The blonde posited.

"No, I suppose not. That would be terribly unfair to all those people." The brunette smirked.

"Keep talking, Your Majesty and I'll show you unfair." The blonde growled. "Speaking of which, don't you think when people awake they will be coming for your head?"

"Why do you think I am bringing back all the happy endings?" She asked coldly.

"You think it will refrain them from punishing-"

"I can't _be_ punished." It was Regina's turn to growl.

"We'll see about that." Emma smirked.

"You are childish." The brunette turned away from the woman's knowing smile. "At any rate, once the curse is broken and magic is restored, I can return the hearts."

"Why not return them now?"

"They cannot be returned without magic."

"Oh...how do we get magic?"

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"Does he remember?"

"I don't think so." Regina turned her back to the blonde.

"Want me to kiss him?"

"What?!" The brunette whirled around to see a grinning Emma.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N- Thanks for the reviews. I enjoy keeping up with your opinions :) Continue to post and I will too!

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_"Want me to kiss him?"_

"What?!" The brunette whirled around to see a grinning Emma.

"Would that bother you? If I kissed him?"

"Of course not." Regina feigned indifference as jealousy pulsed in her veins. "I just do not see how it would benefit us-"

"But if he's awake, we can figure out how to actually break this thing."

"You want to kiss Rumpelstiltskin?" The brunette scoffed and tapped her fingers against the rim of her glass to restrain her anger.

"Not particularly, but if it will help-"

"The last thing we want to do is wake up that spiteful little imp in a towering rage."

"So what do we do?"

"Give him his happy ending and then awaken him." The irritated brunette explained readily.

"So after he gets his happiness, that's when I kiss him-"

"You're not kissing anyone!" Regina set down her glass, put her hands on her hips, and glared at the blonde.

"They're my lips, thank you very much." Emma laughed. "I'll kiss whoever I want."

"No, you won't." Regina advanced on her. "We can't have you wandering around locking your lips on people and awakening them to this world!" The brunette was seething for reasons she didn't want to consider. "That could cause complete and utter chaos! If random citizens were to start having flashbacks-"

"Random? Whoa there, Mayor." Emma delighted at the flush on the woman's face. She was clearly getting to her; breaking through that cool facade she always wore. Emma had no intention of kissing anyone besides the mayor herself. But it sure as hell was fun to rile the woman up. "I'm a bit more selective than _random_."

"Regardless of your personal taste, Miss Swan, you are not allowed to-"

"_Not allowed_?" The blonde scoffed. "You can pucker up and kiss my ass, Regina, because I will kiss whoever I damn well please." She smirked for the briefest span of time before Regina grabbed her by the jacket lapels and pushed her into the wall.

"No. You. Will. Not." She growled as she crowded her; pressing their bodies together as she had the night in the maze and the evening in her office. "You will not hug or kiss or fuck anyone unless I say-"

"You have no right-"

"I have every right!" The brunette shouted into her face. "I am the Queen and you will do as I say!" The woman said with a voice that Emma had not heard in a very long time. It was the voice of the plotting, sinister Mayor Mills with whom the blonde had been acquainted when she first arrived in Storybrook. For the first time, Emma considered with whom she was dealing. If Regina had been as manipulative and clever as she was before she knew her past, how much more dangerous could she be now?

"Back off." Emma said in a defensive voice. "You're no queen of mine."

Regina, sensing the woman's anxiety, tightened her grip of Emma's jacket. "Then I shall make you mine." Without warning, the brunette spun them around, kicked the blonde's feet from under her and shoved her forward so that Emma barely had time to catch herself before she face planted on Regina's carpet.

But before she could right herself, the woman was astride her and cuffing her hands behind her back with her own cuffs. The brunette had snatched them from her belt as she had spun the woman around. "Regina…" Emma said over her shoulder.

"Yes, my dear?" The calmness in the woman's voice unnerved the blonde.

"Let me go, you know I won't go around kissing anyone."

"Do I?" Regina flipped her over so that Emma was lying on top of her hands and staring up with big green eyes at the woman.

"Of course you do!" The blonde sheriff snapped. "I was just saying that to rile you up."

"Were you, now?"

"Cut the rhetorical bullshit-" Emma began but her anger quickly changed to shock when the brunette ripped her shirt in twain so that she could access her breasts. "Christ!" The blonde cursed. "That was my shirt."

"You wrinkled my blouse." Regina offered in way of explanation.

"Wrinkled and ripped are two different things!" The blonde shouted.

"Perhaps." Regina cocked her head before placing one hand around the woman's throat. "I've never been much for gentility." She growled quietly and grinned in an unfriendly manner. "I expect obedience and compliance from my pets-"

"I'm not your pet!"

Regina reached to her coffee table and grabbed an ornate letter opener before running it lightly down the blonde's sternum. This quieted Emma as she watched the brunette with wide eyes. "Perhaps not yet." The woman carefully cut the woman's bra until it sprang open. The blonde was too stunned to speak. "But you will be."

The knife traveled down Emma's flat stomach to reach her belt. Regina undid the buckle, unbuttoned the denim, and then jerked the woman's jeans and underpants down unceremoniously. Emma tried to clamp her legs together when the cold air hit the heat that had been building between her thighs.

"Regina…" The blonde said warningly.

"Yes, dear?" The brunette hummed.

"What are you doing?"

"I would have thought that was obvious…" Regina answered. "No? Let me explain." She moved off of the blonde, flipped her back onto her stomach, and raised her bare ass in the air so that Emma was forced to press her face to the carpet in supplication to the woman behind her. "I am making you mine. I will not have you kissing anyone else because your lips belong to me. I will not have you spreading your legs for anyone else because your folds are for my enjoyment only. You will only lie beneath _me_ and you will do so whenever I ask it of you. I am your queen and I will be obeyed. Is that clear?"

"Fuck yourself, Regina." Emma said breathlessly. There was nothing more that she wanted in that moment to be claimed and possessed by Regina Mills, but the brunette must never know that.

"I think I would rather fuck _you_." She said matter-of-factly. "Allow me to return the favor you so graciously did me earlier by taking all of your control."

Strong hands gripped the blonde's smooth thighs as the brunette spread the woman's legs. Emma couldn't fight without throwing herself off-balance because her ankles were still trapped in her jeans and boots. But the blonde squirmed none-the-less; attempting to make it difficult for the brunette behind her.

However, at the first swipe of Regina's tongue, Emma went limp. The brunette slid her hands up the blonde's backside to grip her cheeks in her palms and spread her apart so that she could devour her. Emma couldn't breathe or think; all she could do was feel. Feel the woman's hot breath against her center. Feel her tongue plunging and flicking and swiping at every slick surface she could find. Feel the woman's lips close around her clit and suckle it until the blonde moaned.

"Oh…" Emma clutched her own jacket with her cuffed hands and bit her lip. She knew she wasn't far from climaxing even though her knees were cramping and her neck was aching. Emma knew without a shadow of a doubt that Regina was going to undo her more effectively than anyone had before.

The brunette pulled back, but continued to massage her folds gently with her hand. "Do you see now who you are dealing with, Miss Swan?" She asked and flicked the sensitive nub with her thumb; causing Emma to buck. "You should have known better, really." Regina gloried in the sight of Emma silently willing her to continue. "You want this, don't you?" She asked the blonde as she quivered in longing and need. "Answer me." The brunette commanded and plunged two fingers deep inside her. The blonde jerked under her hands.

"You know I do." Emma ground out and when Regina removed the fingers, the blonde felt a deeper throbbing emerge. She desperately needed the brunette to finish her. What was more, was that Regina knew it.

"I'm going to take you and then you will watch as I ride you hard and fast. You will be grateful." She whispered and thrust the fingers back in to tap her g spot aggressively. The blonde cried out and writhed wantonly. "I am going to ruin you for anyone else. You will never be able to make love to anyone without thinking of me, Emma Swan. I swear it." She pumped twice more and then leaned back down to fuck her hard demandingly her tongue; filling the warm recess of her strung out body until Emma came. Hard.

The blonde cried out and wrenched at her jacket; pressing her face down into the carpet and holding her breath until the intense climax passed. Regina removed her tongue and Emma suddenly felt the loss even as her body continued to throb and clench in the aftermath of her orgasm.

But quite suddenly, Emma was uncuffed and facing the ceiling. Regina had removed her panties and straddled the blonde so that Emma could feel the brunette's hot, wet folds connecting with her abdomen. Regina rubbed the slick flesh up and back as Emma watched in shock.

The brunette unbuttoned her blouse to let her cleavage bounce freely as she thrust against the woman beneath her. Emma was suddenly awake once more. She watched in awe as Regina pinned her hands above her head and pumped her hips against the tight muscles in her abdomen. Every thrust jiggled her breasts and Emma watched in awe as Regina tossed her magnificent head back, clutched Emma's pinned forearms and arched her back.

The brunette continued to play her own body like a finely tuned instrument, though the blonde could feel the woman creeping up her torso until she was riding her ribs. Emma was curious about the shift, but couldn't find it in her to be too worried about it considering she now had a better view of the woman's wet folds meeting solidly with her own flesh.

"Open your mouth." Regina suddenly growled.

"What?" Emma asked breathlessly.

"Open your mouth!" she shouted, grabbing a hank of Emma's hair in one hand and jerking her head back.

The realization hit the blonde as Regina's flesh rose before her and Emma opened her lips and stuck out her tongue to take all the woman's fluid in her mouth. Regina braced herself over the blonde and jerked the golden head up to cover her own sex as she squirted in climax. Hot liquid filled the blonde's mouth as she groaned in lust. The brunette had squirted in her face and Emma was greedily licking every inch of the flesh she could reach; devouring the sodden mess that Regina had become.

The brunette rolled off of her and breathed deeply and steadily as Emma wiped her chin and neck. She looked over at Regina who was still panting and watched her out of the corner of her eye. "I don't suppose you want to cuddle."

Regina cut her eyes. "I doubt you would be able to anyway. If I'm much mistaken, you will be very sore tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Emma sat up and shuffled her pants back up her ass without rising. "I'm already sore." She rolled her shoulders and neck around. "What am I supposed to do about my shirt and bra?" She asked pointedly as she looked down to the shreds of her clothing.

Regina looked around. "You can borrow one of mine; you've done it before." She smirked. "But you really should be more careful with your clothing, dear." The brunette stood and rolled out her own neck before disappearing into her laundry room and then reappearing with a sweatshirt.

"Who does this belong to?" Emma asked when Regina threw it to her.

"Me, who else?"

"I've just never seen you in sweats."

"Yes, well, I don't wear them outside the house."

"Yes, I suppose they wouldn't go well with your heels." The blonde pulled the shirt over her head. "So what's next?" She asked before sitting down on the sofa.

Regina considered her a moment as though trying to decide what she meant. "I suppose we set about giving Gold what he wants." She buttoned her blouse and ran her fingers through her raven locks. "And then we wake him up." She cut a glance at the blonde at this point as though daring her to mention kissing anyone again.

But Emma just looked thoughtful. "How are we going to do that?"

"One step at a time." Regina cautioned.

"Yes, because you're the paragon of patience."

Regina growled wickedly. "No, perhaps I cannot be accused of that." She sat down beside the blonde and rubbed a hand up her thigh. "But I think you and I can both agree that I have a great deal of _control_." A faint blush arose to Emma's cheeks.

"Good." Emma said through her embarrassment. "We're going to need it. Dealing with Gold is dicey at best."

"You should have known him before, when he had magic. He was downright impossible."

"I can see that." The blonde rose to her feet. "We should tell Henry the plan."

"Yes, I promised him I would let him in on what was going on." Regina said. "Perhaps we can reconvene this weekend and decide what our move is. In the meantime, I think it is best to convince your...roommate and her...gentleman friend that I am not a threat."

"Yeah…" Emma responded abashed. "I'll talk to them." She straightened her jacket around the sweatshirt and headed for the door. "Just let me know when you want me to drop in."

"Will do, Sheriff. Thank you for being such an obliging guest." The brunette walked her to the door. Emma narrowed her eyes. "I do hope this won't become a pattern, however."

"What?" The blonde said in a guarded voice.

"This is second time we have rutted like animals in an inopportune location; perhaps next time, you will see fit to pleasure me in a bed."

Emma ached at the delightfully nasty way Regina said this and felt her pulse quicken at the idea of making love to her in a bed. However, a quip was all she could manage. "I doubt it." She snorted and slammed the door behind her; determined to get the last word.

Regina stood staring at the closed door and smirking triumphantly. "As do I, my delicious little tart, as do I." She cackled to the quiet house.


	16. Chapter 16

It was Friday and Emma had been chasing vandals all week. She had turned to David for help and actually hired him as her Deputy. The man seemed extremely happy about all of this and swaggered around with so much bravado that Emma was surprised he could walk straight. However, seeing him like this, it was easy to imagine him as the Prince Charming that was in Henry's storybook.

Speaking of Henry, both of his mothers had been surprised and delighted that he was able to convince Mary Margaret and David that the fairytale conundrum was a simple misunderstanding. In an attempt to play a joke on her, in the spirit of Halloween, it had gone just a bit far. The befuddled couple had been relieved enough not to press for too many details and Emma and Regina had been extremely proud of their very clever son.

However, the misdemeanors in Storybrook had doubled as Halloween approached. Emma had hoped that having the Harvest Festival would channel that unruly teenage behavior into a more focused point. But it seemed it was not to be. Apparently, despite the festivities beforehand, Halloween was going to be as lively as ever. The blonde sighed and rested her weary feet.

At least the situation with Belle and Gold had seemed to work beautifully. Regina had formed the plan to drop the woman on the edge of town, "anonymously tip off" the Sheriff's office; at which point Emma would collect her and take her to the hospital to be treated for amnesia. The blonde had appointed Ruby to show the woman around and introduce her, "hoping it would jog her memory"...or that was how they presented it to Belle.

Emma, for her part, was skeptical that this could work; there seemed to be a lot riding on Belle's amnesia and her, Emma's, ability to lie. However, once Gold and Belle had crossed paths, it seemed that they had become immediately involved with one another...almost as if it were meant to be.

The blonde propped her feet up on the desk and considered that there might be something to this _true love_ nonsense after all. She sipped her cold coffee. Now all they had to do was find some way to wake Rumpelstiltskin up without pissing him off. Even Regina, it seemed, was not so sure about this part.

The blonde shrugged and rubbed her neck. She supposed they would figure out that bit at the meeting they were supposed to be having this weekend. Emma decided that, for the moment, she was going to sit back and take a moment to herself. But just as she was taking a second to breathe, her phone rang.

"Sheriff Swan."

"Sheriff."

"Regina, what's up?"

"I wanted to set a time for our date."

Emma's eyebrows shot up. "Right."

"Are you doing anything tonight around six?"

"I'll have to clear that lesbian orgy off my calendar…" The blonde joked.

"See that you do….or perhaps I should remind you of our little arrangement?" The brunette's voice was light and playful and yet Emma could sense an undercurrent of warning and a thrill ran up her spine.

"I don't remember signing anything."

"An _oral_ commitment is just as good, Sheriff. And I distinctly remember-"

"Yeah, yeah, ok." Emma hissed, suddenly turned on and angry with herself. She had managed to avoid the woman all week, save for the phone calls enacting her clever little plan with Gold, and now Regina was harassing her over the line. The blonde found that the woman's sultry voice was almost as big a turn on as being cuffed beneath her.

"I'm glad we're in agreement, Sheriff. Six o'clock." She reminded and hung up.

X

Regina was smiling in a satisfied manner when she hung up the phone. Everything was rubbing along as well as she could have hoped. Belle and Gold seemed disgustingly smitten with one another and thanks to this, she had been able to cross the last ruined happy ending off her list. When Rumpelstiltskin was awake to tell them how to break the curse and/or return magic, Regina would be able to give everyone back their hearts.

A small smile of triumph curved at her mouth. She was thoroughly pleased this was coming along so well. There had been a time, when Henry had told Emma what was going on, that the brunette had become legitimately concerned that their little operation would blow up in their faces. However, now that she and the stubborn blonde were on the same page, Regina was confident that their plan would come to a hard-earned happy ending.

The brunette stood and glanced down to the apple tree in her courtyard and considered it thoughtfully. The tree had thrived here in Storybrook; far better than it had ever done in the Enchanted Forest. Regina arched a brow and supposed that the same could be said for herself. In the curse she had cast, she had designated herself supreme ruler; intent on watching those around her suffer. Her curse's infrastructure was built specifically to make her happy; to help her succeed in glorious triumph.

Of course she wasn't happy and that was why she had eventually approached Gold about adopting a son. She supposed that was part of the curse Rumpelstiltskin had written. He had added his own flavor; his own blueprint designed to bring Emma in at the right time. Regina sneered at her own stupidity, but relaxed her face when she realized that she was happy now; in spite of the blonde...perhaps...it wasn't fair to say it that way. She had Emma to thank for many things.

Even with Henry, Regina had felt lonely. Graham had done little more than warm her bed a few nights a week and she could hardly confide in her young son. Even surrounded by people, Regina felt quite alone. Until Emma. The realization caused her to shudder. Emma never cowered or judged her unfairly. The blonde expected the woman to be good instead of evil and the brunette found that this simple fact was part of the reason she had continued on with her plan to make everything right.

Henry was the main factor and then there were the citizens themselves that, despite their obvious inferiority, Regina had grown fond of. But Emma's influence had pushed her forward as she tried to earn the blonde's trust and approval. The brunette had come to care for the woman, not in the whimsical and carefree way she had for Daniel; but in a respectful, earnest way that one only feels for an equal. Because, above anything else, Emma had proven that she was her equal.

Regina shook her head and realized with a jolt that she had been staring without seeing. She furrowed her brows when she noticed a slight figure, leaning heavily on a cane, reach up and pluck an apple from her tree. Feeling a skitter of apprehension up her back, the brunette collected her jacket and made her way down to the courtyard.


	17. Chapter 17

"Madam Mayor." The man said without turning.

"Mr. Gold. Are you enjoying this fine weather we are having? I noticed that your new friend, Belle is it? Is looking for a job."

"That she is." He said still without turning to her. Instead, Regina watched his profile as he sniffed the apple appreciatively.

"Have her memories begun to return?"

"They have actually."

Regina's blood froze. _Shit!_ "Really? That's wonderful." She said convincingly. "Anything useful? I believe we're all quite curious to figure out what happened to her."

"Funny thing that." The man said over his shoulder. "About the same time that Belle began to have flashes of her life before, I began to experience my own flashbacks."

"Very mysterious." Regina began to panic slightly now. "Perhaps images of a previous life?"

"I do believe it to be something of that nature, yes." The man turned now and smiled at her in a menacing sort of way as he gripped his cane tightly. "Now, tell me, my dear Mayor, how much longer are we going to dance this wearisome foxtrot?"

The darkening courtyard rang with silence. "Pardon?"

"Please do not tell me you did not expect this?" He made a delighted face when she stared at him nonplussed. "You didn't!" The man clapped his hands together; forcibly reminding the woman of the imp he still was. He put the back of his had to the side of his mouth as though about to tell a secret. "True love's kiss!" He said in a stage whisper. "You overlooked the single, most obvious foil in your plot! I knew you were an inattentive student, Regina, but this sort of oversight is unforgivable. An "F" for you!" He cackled and the brunette bared her teeth.

"So you've come to gloat? I'll admit, I overlooked that; but you can chalk it up to my inability to believe your cold heart capable of _true love_." It was as if they had never left the Enchanted Forest at all. Their relationship was back to where it had always been: grudging respect and boundless animosity. "What do you want now?"

"Want? Why, the same thing you want, dearie!" He stepped closer. "To bring back the magic."

Regina blinked and then narrowed her gaze. "Why?"

"That's not your concern-"

"It is if you're planning on killing me."

"Death is too good for you, Regina." He laughed. "But suffice to say it is not my first priority."

The brunette blinked. "But I hid Belle from you."

"And for that, you'll pay...later."

"But she was locked in the asylum…" The woman puzzled at the man before her. What was his game?

"Surely you don't _want_ me to kill you-" He began impatiently.

"Of course not!" The woman growled.

"Then what's the trouble, dearie!? We both want to restore magic, let's hop to it."

"I'm not hopping anywhere with you until I know what you're playing at." Regina planted her heels in the cool grass and crossed her arms over her chest. The man sized her up briefly.

"I designed the curse; I know how to break it."

"Emma-"

"-Is merely the tool." He said through clenched teeth. "A tool like you were."

The brunette clenched her jaw and pursed her lips, letting the distasteful words roll off of her. "And?"

"And, though your part is done, we still have need of Miss Swan."

"What do we need of her?"

"She must break the curse so that the magic can be restored. Otherwise, what is the point in all those _good_ things you have done if no one can see them for what they are?"

Regina bit her tongue hard. She so detested the irksome little man, but knew she needed his help. "Alright, Rumple, spill it."

"When I constructed the curse to bring us to a land without magic, I also constructed a way to bring magic here. A potion of true love."

"That's impossible." She said. "You can't brew-"

"Ah, but I didn't brew it. I simply added two ingredients; two strands of hair."

"Snow and Charming."

"Correct!" He said flamboyantly.

"Tell me, Rumpel, how did you smuggle that into Storybrook?"

"With the help of one of your very dear friends." Regina narrowed her eyes and wracked her brain. The man smirked and turned to look at the clock tower. "There is a reason the library is off-limits, yes?"

"No." The brunette whispered. "How did you know-?"

"That you would bring her?" He cut her off and leaned forward to continue in a singsongy voice. "I knew you couldn't resist! I hid the potion inside her-"

"Inside her?!"

The man smiled impatiently, "Yes, Your Majesty. Inside her enormous scaly body."

"Fantastic." She breathed sarcastically. "All we have to do it extract-"

"-You mean all Miss Swan has to do."

The brunette blinked. "What?"

"It has to be her. The magic is tied to her and her blood. _She_ has to be the one to find it. When Miss Swan retrieves the potion, she gives heroic action to her belief. She has done more than just accept that what you say is true; she has accepted _who she is_. By defeating Maleficent and retrieving the vial, Emma is completing a heroic quest. The successful completion of her quest will break the curse." He explained impatiently. "You see, it is not merely her _belief_ in these things, but her action and acceptance that causes things to happen."

"I see. Every time something in Storybrook changed, it was after Emma _did_ something. When she stayed the first night, the clock tower began to tick and when she accepted the job of deputy, the mine opened up."

"Precisely, I may reconsider that "F" I gave you earlier." He smirked at her unamused expression. "And now, dearie, we must part ways. Bring your valiant knight up to speed on the process and get in touch with me. I would like to get this nasty curse business sorted out sooner rather than later." He turned on his heel and limped away as Regina stood, watching his retreating figure.

XX

"So I have to fight your ex-BFF?" Emma asked in disbelief later that night as she sipped her beer and picked at the plate of cheese and crackers. Henry sat beside her at the breakfast bar, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Yeah!" The boy nearly shook with elation. "You're a real hero! That's what heroes do."

"Henry, Miss Swan will be facing a rather dangerous opponent." Regina chastised forcibly. "This isn't a video game. I trapped Maleficent as a real, firebreathing dragon."

"Seriously!?" The blonde exclaimed. "Damn, Regina! I would be pissed too!" Emma nudged the boy who grinned, but the brunette was not amused.

"I _am _serious, Emma." She growled. "This isn't some game! Maleficent is more than capable of murder in her blonde, fairy form. She's doubly dangerous as a beast!"

"Ok, Regina." The sheriff leaned in and locked gazes with her. She had been touched that the brunette had used her first name; as she rarely did so. "I get it. Enormous dragon I have to slay." She said. "It's dangerous, but I will succeed. I don't really have a choice do I?" The blonde nudged the boy again and he smiled.

"No, you don't. You're the hero; it's your destiny."

"See there, Mayor Mills? We're all in agreement." The blonde joked, but gave the brunette a small, reassuring smile. She was surprised Regina was so worried and somewhat confused. Emma wasn't exactly sure when their relationship had moved past the anger-fucking and into a more...emotional realm. "Now, Henry." The blonde turned to her son. "I see that you have not beaten level fourteen on your game." She tisked and he frowned. "You must get on it unless you want me catching up to you."

"Yeah, right." He rolled his eyes. "Level fourteen is double what you're at now."

Emma feigned outrage. "I'll have you know I beat level seven! I'm on level eight now."

"Whatever, Mom." He grinned at her silliness and swiveled his body around on the barstool.

Once he was out of earshot and deeply immersed in the game console, the blonde turned to her companion who was staring out the window dazedly. "Hey."

"Hey?" Regina said haughtily.

"It's all gonna be alright, you know that right? I mean…" She wiggled her eyebrows. "I _am_ the savior, right?"

Regina rolled her eyes and sighed mightily. "It doesn't make you immortal. You could still get hurt."

"But if I succeed, it doesn't matter." Emma popped a grape into her mouth. "I just have to succeed to break the curse."

"It would kill Henry if you got hurt." Regina said quietly.

"He'd have you." Emma offered.

"I'd rather he had the both of us." The brunette said and blushed faintly.

"He _will_." The blonde reached across the counter and covered Regina's hand with her own. "I'll get this done. I'm a pretty capable gal."

The brunette looked down at the woman's hand atop her own and forced down the anxiety in her throat. "I am more than aware of your capability, Miss Swan," Regina said sharply, though she didn't remove her hand from under the steady, reassuring grip of her lover's. "But I do wish to impress upon you the seriousness of this task. This will be no small feat."

"I get it, Regina. I do." Emma locked eyes with her. "All the more reason to get to this done. Let's meet with Gold tomorrow. I want to get this over with."

"Tomorrow…" Regina repeated and a flash of anxiety crossed her face once more.

"Hey." Emma snapped her attention back. "It's gonna be alright. I won't let them hurt you-"

"Them? Hurt me?" Regina laughed humorlessly. "I'm not worried they'll hurt me."

"There is more to hurt than just the physical." The blonde said quietly and watched the effect this had on Regina. "Once I get the potion, we'll just explain to everyone-"

"Explain? They'll come for my blood-"

"Then you'll hide-"

"Hide?" The woman laughed again. "I don't hide."

Emma gritted her teeth and prayed for patience. "I didn't mean hide in fear from the angry mob." She breathed deeply. "I mean, stay out of sight until we can cool everyone down and convince people that you're not Evil."

Regina stared at her. "When the curse breaks, I think it most prudent to find your parents first. Henry and I will wait here and you can come and...collect us when the time is right. We can then return the magic and the hearts…" The brunette stared off into space once again. "I know the spell to determine which organ belongs to which person."

"Great." The blonde grinned and released her hand to pop a piece of cheese in her mouth. "I've gotta run, but we'll meet at Gold's tomorrow afternoon...around one?" She asked the woman as she walked to the living room door and called to her son. "Henry, I'm leaving."

He paused his game, hugged the blonde and then, catching Regina's eye, sighed, hugged _her_, and headed up the stairs to ready for bed. Regina turned back to see Emma watching her closely. "What?"

The blonde grinned and shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just glad...we can all...be here… like this."

Before, the brunette would have scoffed at the blonde's sentiment and also the delivery of the hesitant statement. But things were different now. "As am I, Miss Swan." She opened the door as Emma took her coat.

"Goodnight, Regina." The blonde leaned in and placed a chaste, but warm kiss on her lips and then turned and was out into the dark night.

Regina stood silhouetted in the doorway; watching the woman get in her car and pull away from the curb. "Goodnight, Emma." She whispered with a small, happy smile on her face.


	18. Chapter 18

"Seriously?" Emma asked as she looked down at the gleaming sword. "I've got to use this?"

"No." Gold said. "But it's better than your bare hands, isn't it?"

"I'd rather just shoot the thing." The blonde grumbled as she ran a finger across the golden hilt.

The man grinned malevolently. "Whatever you wish, Miss Swan. But take it." He lifted it, sheathed it, and held it out to her. "In the case you run out of bullets."

The blonde took it gently and strapped it to her belt cautiously. It was strange and awkward to have the metal and leather bumping against her thigh, but she brushed it off. "Now, to the arena where I must defeat the dragon and retrieve the golden egg." She announced.

"How do you know what it looks like?"

"Know what, what looks like?" She asked Gold as he puzzled at her.

"Nevermind." He frowned.

"It's a Harry Potter reference, Rumple." Regina hurried them along. "Can we get on with this?"

X

Regina led Emma into the library and to the wall where she pressed her palm. The wall slid away to reveal an elevator. Emma whistled.

"Wow." She said and put a hand on the hilt of the sword at her belt. "That's trippy as fuck, Regina."

"You always know just what to say." The brunette scoffed and put a hand on the lever to open the door. "Get in."

"After you." Emma fired back.

"It's a two man job." The brunette explained. "I have to be here to operate it because, according to Gold, you are the only one to find this potion."

"Right." Emma nodded and walked past her to look into the elevator. She retracted her head and looked at the brunette with a hard stare. "Look, if I don't-"

"Hush." Regina said and pressed her lips to the blonde's for a long, intense kiss. The brunette poured all of her jumbled up, confused emotions into the kiss. Though Regina didn't understand how she felt, whatever the emotion, it was communicated to Emma through the kiss. "Now go." She pulled back and gave the woman a gentle shove into the elevator.

Emma was still a bit punch-drunk by the kiss, but gave the woman a small smile. She also felt emboldened by whatever emotion had transpired between them. "See you in a bit."

Regina just nodded and pulled the lever, causing the door to slide shut with a industrial clang. The blonde could hear the gears grinding and gritted her teeth. _How sturdy is this thing? _She wondered to herself as the elevator began to sink. Finding that adrenaline was beginning to charge up her system, the blonde fidgeted with the sword at her side. The once awkward weight became a comforting pressure on her leg. She reached down, took ahold of the hilt with a strong grip, and unsheathed the blade. "Let's do this." She said to herself.

From the moment the lift hit the bottom, Emma knew she was in deep shit. She stepped gingerly out and looked around at the archaic stalagmite structures and the dark, sheer cliff. _Ok, if I were a massive dragon, where would I hide?_ She questioned herself as she sheathed the sword quietly and slunk around the walls, finally resting her back on the rockface to observe her surroundings.

She peered around as she pressed her palms flat against the surface of the wall behind her. Frowning, she wondered at the strange texture of the stone before reality set in and, eyes widening, she stumbled away from her resting place in time to see the dragon rising dramatically above her out of the gloom.

"Shit." She cursed and took off running in time to get out of the way of the fire. Hiding behind a rock, she took out her gun. Emma spun away from the massive stalagmite and fired round after round into the monster, but all she accomplished was to piss it off. "Fuck!" She shouted and holstered the gun. Time to improvise.

XXX

Regina shuffled from foot to nervous foot as Emma fought the beast. Had she succeeded? Had she failed? The brunette cursed under her breath as she realized there was no for her to know. Until the blonde re-entered the elevator and rang the bell, signaling for the brunette to activate the lift, Regina had no way of knowing if the blonde was coming back up.

She paced around nervously, trying to force the terrible images of the blonde from her mind. What would she do without Emma? What would Henry do? Regina felt panic creeping up from the pit of her stomach into her throat. She had become accustomed to the blonde; she relied on her. The brunette paced around the room and frowned as something else tickled her consciousness.

It was more than that. She care about the woman. She would miss her if she were gone. She would mourn for her and for Henry's loss. Regina slumped her shoulders forward as she admitted this to herself. It was happening again; she had grown to care for someone and now, she could possibly be-

The buzzer from the elevator sounded; disrupting the woman's thoughts. Regina had never been so happy to have her train of thought broken. She rushed to the elevator and pressed the lever that would raise the lift. The noise of the door opening behind her caused her to turn and then suddenly, everything went dark.

X

The lift jolted to a stop and Emma's knees buckled slightly at the sudden halt. "Regina?!" The blonde called up the lift...she was so close to the door...if only it had moved twenty more feet.

"Miss Swan?" A voice called down as the doors were prised open and a beam of light illuminated the shaft.

"Gold? Where's Regina?"

"She's left you here it seems. The elevator is jammed."

"What?" Emma frowned. That didn't make sense at all; she knew the brunette wouldn't abandon her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, she's not here. Perhaps there was an emergency with Henry."

"That would have to be it." Emma stared up at him, sensing something amiss. "I'm coming up."

"You can't climb and carry that-"

"Watch me."

"Just toss it up." The man instructed, pointing to the item she carried.

Emma looked down at the jewel-encrusted, golden egg and hesitated. She didn't quite trust Gold, but the worst he could do was bring magic back, right. Which is what they all wanted. And the man was right, she couldn't climb with it in her hands without dropping it or falling herself. "Ok, but I'm coming right up." She said and readied to toss. She took the egg in one hand and flexed her arm, sending it soaring easily upward. The man snatched it, grinned, and then disappeared from view. "Gold?" Emma called. "Gold!" She shouted again, realizing she had been duped. "Damn!"

Emma bent her knees and leapt upward, catching onto the metal of the elevator shaft and pulling herself up toward the open door. Hand over hand, using her legs to push, the blonde climbed as though there was a rising lake of fire beneath her. When her head finally popped over the ledge, she spotted Regina's fallen form on the floor. "Regina!" She yelled in fear and wrenched herself out of the hole to scamper toward the brunette. There was blood on the floor beneath her head.

Emma rolled the woman onto her back and pulled her up into her lap. Regina's eyes were half-open and she was breathing shallowly. It was obvious she was somewhat catatonic. Emma began gently slapping her, but the brunette wasn't responding. And then, the blonde did the only thing that made any sort of sense. She leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

Emma felt the charge go out and looked around at the change in the air. Regina looked up at her in confusion. "Emma?" She sat up abruptly and winced as she clutched the back of her head. "Damn! Gold!" She growled when her fingers came away wet with blood. "I saw his slimy face just before he struck me." She tried to scramble to her feet. "Knocked me clean out-!"

Emma was still trying to get her bearings. What had just happened? What had that shockwave been? Why did the air feel different? "Regina…?"

"I mean everything was black and I don't even remember falling-" She rubbed her shoulder as though it was sore and then tentatively pressed around on the side of her head for a laceration or bump, finding none.

"Regina-" Emma said again as she began to piece everything together.

"-I'm surprised you could wake me, how did you do that by the way?"

"I think the curse is broken."

"What?" The brunette blinked. "Why?"

"I kissed you awake. You were unconscious and bleeding and I kissed you."

"But why?"

Emma shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do...and then there was sort of shock-wave thing-"

"You broke the curse." Regina whispered. "But how?"

"Well, I completed the task, didn't I? I mean, isn't that what Gold said? I had to defeat the dragon and get the potion-" Emma stopped dead. "Oh, shit, the potion!"

Regina looked at her. "He tricked you, didn't he?" The blonde hung her head. "Slimy bastard." The brunette growled. "When I get my hands on him-"

"We have to assume he's going to bring magic here, but because he's in control of it...we won't have a chance to explain. It will just come back and everyone with their new old memories will flip the fuck out."

The brunette looked at her a moment and then took a fistful of her shirt to shove her toward the door. "Go find your parents."

"But I don't want to leave you-"

"Go!" Regina pointed toward the door. "I'll head to my house and barricade myself and Henry in. Find your parents, bring them to my house, and we'll explain. If the peasants won't believe us, maybe they will trust them." Emma nodded and headed out the door. "Emma!" Regina called her back and paused. "I'm glad you're ok." She said quietly and the blonde smiled. "Now go."


	19. Chapter 19

A/N- Just bear with me :)

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Emma found her parents as they were lip-locking in the street. She galloped up with a hand on the hilt of the sword to keep it steady. It would take a lifetime if she were to ever get used to the long blade at her side.

"Mary-Margaret! David!" She shouted as Ruby and Granny also ran up to meet them and hug it out. Emma reflected that she might have found that it gave her warm-fuzzies to see everyone reunited. But as she had just slayed a dragon, kissed Regina from a coma, and given the enemy their best weapon, she was a bit short on the warm-fuzzies at the moment.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret shouted and wrapped her tightly in a hug, in which David joined in after a few seconds of disbelief. "You found us."

"Yeah, I did." She mumbled against the woman's furry sweater. Damn Mary Margaret and her faux angora. "Look, not to sound insensitive, but can we do the reunion thing later? I have a lot to tell you." She then launched into a very brief and breathless account of the events that had transpired in the last couple of day as her parents watched her with stricken faces.

"So she's made everything right?" Snow asked faintly of Regina.

"Except the hearts."

"Which is why she needs the magic."

"Yes," Emma said to David. "But Gold took the potion so we don't know when that's gonna be headed this way. We had hoped to hold off on that until we could explain everything, but now that Gold is in control-"

"We need a new plan." Snow confirmed and Emma smiled in relief.

"Yeah. Can you talk to everyone? They won't believe Regina, but they _will_ listen to you two."

Snow and Charming looked at one another and then back at Emma. Charming spoke. "You're sure she's changed."

"A hundred percent." The blonde confirmed and he nodded to his wife.

"Ok. We need to get everyone together-"

"Angry Mob!" Yelled a voice causing the group to turn in time to see a large swell of furious people charge past. Archie came sprinting up. "They're headed to Regina's house!"

Emma immediately leapt into action. "She's defenseless and Henry too!" The blonde shouted as she took off at a run toward the manor. She could hear her parents behind her and several other pairs of feet, but didn't care. All that mattered was she get to Regina before- But she couldn't finish the thought.

X

Regina's spine hit the pillar of her own house as the angry man shoved her backward. If she had magic, she would grind him under her heel. But as she didn't, she was forced to come out on her porch and meet the mob to protect her son who she had instructed to slip out the back door.

"You will be punished, Regina. You can't escape fate this time." Whale growled at her as she smirked wickedly in disdain.

"Hey!" Emma shoved people out of the way and threw her shoulder into Whale. He stumbled to the side and caught himself against the wall. "No one is going to be punished!" She shouted as her parents parted the crowd and came to stand beside her. "Regina has been working to bring back all of your happy endings. Think about it!" The blonde yelled angrily at the crowd. "Don't all of you have everything you wanted now? And hasn't this happened over the course of the past several weeks?"

The villagers turned thoughtfully to one another and whispered among themselves. "Regina cast the curse and has been asleep, like you. Once she awoke, she began to fix everything. We are working on bringing magic here so that she can finish what she started."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that? Annihilating us all for her own entertainment?" Asked a snide voice from the side of the porch where the angry doctor stood with his arms across his chest.

"I have to have magic to give back the hearts." The brunette shouted at him and then turned to the crowd. "I have my vault and your hearts here. If you want to have them back, you have to play nice." She growled this last bit. "It's a simple enough trick, but I have to have magic to do it." The crowd went silent and they watched her with mistrust. But many of them watched appraisingly; Emma could tell they had gotten their attention.

"So, when magic arrives, we'll start an inventory on the hearts. If you are missing yours-" She stopped and turned to Regina. "How will they know?" She whispered.

"They already know." The brunette said. "You feel it don't you?" She addressed the crowd. "That empty feeling. The curse simulated a heartbeat where there was no heart. Now that the curse is broken, your chest feels hollow." Many people shuffled nervously and nodded a bit. "When magic returns, you will line up at my vault and I will return them to you, one by one."

"Ok. So we have a plan." Snow spoke for the first time. "Until such a time as magic comes rolling over the hills, try to go about your normal activities." At these words, people began to disperse.

Emma let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Ok, so now what?"

"We wait." Regina answered. "Until there is magic, I can't do anything helpful."

Snow cocked her head. "Yes, you can." She said thoughtfully. "We need to figure out how to run this town after magic returns. I expected us to go back to the Enchanted Forest after all of this."

"As did I." David said.

"That will be a question for Gold." Regina said. "I don't know what has become of the Enchanted Forest; I never intended on going back there. When I cast the curse, I built a failsafe into it. The failsafe would destroy the town; it would be as though it never existed."

"So you would have left us here to die?"

"Yes." Regina curled her lip at the accusation in David's voice.

"No." Emma spoke. "You woke up and your first instinct was to help; not to harm."

"Because of Henry."

"Speaking of which...where is he?"

"When the peasants came, I instructed him to escape out the back door as I distracted the mob."

"So he's probably hiding in a tree out back?" Emma smirked and Regina returned the expression. The exchange between the two women was not lost on Snow.


	20. Chapter 20

Magic, as it happened, returned just a few hours after the mob had dissipated. Emma was sitting at Granny's counter as her parent's did the meet and greet thing with all of their long-lost friends. "Look!" Shouted Leroy, which Emma had just learned went by "Grumpy" in the Enchanted Forest.

She followed his pointed finger to see a purple mist rolling across the tree-line. "Great." Emma breathed and turned to her parents. "Can you take Henry tonight? This could take a while."

"Mom, I want to go with you." He said.

The blonde smiled and ruffled his hair. "I would rather you stayed with Snow and Charming," she said as she forced herself to say their names. "We will all have breakfast in the morning. Me, you, and Regina." He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "I promise."

"Ok." He huffed and she rolled her eyes and stepped out the door to watch as the fog covered the land. She could feel the air surging with something akin to electricity around her as she stood out in the street and braced for the impact.

The mist flowed around her, obscuring her vision and Emma felt her blood hum and her ears pop and all manner of strange shifts in her body. It was as though a switch had been flipped inside her. She shook the fog out of her brain and turned when someone took her hand.

"It's time." Regina said and tugged her forward into nothingness.

Emma's feet hit the dirt in the cemetery and she stumbled a step in surprise. "Jesus, Regina. I wasn't expecting that." She said as her body trembled. But the brunette was looking at her suspiciously.

"How do you feel?" She asked, stepping forward to the blonde.

"Weird. But I guess that's the magic, huh?" Emma swooned slightly. She suddenly felt dizzy. "I'm lightheaded." She allowed Regina to lead her inside the tomb and watched as the brunette waved a hand and the stone slid out of the way for them to enter the dark chamber. The brunette waved another hand and the candles burst into flame. "Is this what the Enchanted Forest felt like?" The blonde murmured as she stumbled over to the chair and sat down as Regina watched her closely. "All buzzy and charged up?"

"Only to those who practice magic." The brunette said softly.

"What? But I can't-"

"Obviously, you can. You're the product of true love: the strongest magic of all. Light magic" She murmured as an afterthought.

"So, I'm magical?"

"It seems so."

"I'm tired of surprises." Emma huffed. Regina smiled at her and went to the tapestry. She considered it a moment and then snapped her fingers. The quilt disappeared and reappeared strung across the archway of the side chamber where Emma was slumped in the chair. "Trying to hide me?"

"No, I just don't want all of my secrets bared." The brunette dusted her clean hands and pushed back the curtain to stand before the blonde. "I would rather the angry peasants were only privy to my heart room."

"Ah, good thinking. Wouldn't want them stealing your cauldron or broomstick." Emma quipped, but arched a brow as Regina leaned right down into her face with a hand on either armrest and smiled predatorily.

"Now, Miss Swan, after this organ donation is finished, I will expect you at my house."

"Wh-what?" Emma was caught off-guard.

The brunette smirked presumptuously. "Henry is staying with your parents, is he not?"

"Yes…" The blonde said hesitantly.

"Then I will expect you in my bed promptly after we finish here."

Emma stared at her and swallowed. She could not believe how quickly her body heated to the words of the brunette. "What if I have plans?"

Regina's eyes flashed. "Cancel them. Or do I need to remind you just how helpless I can make you?" She trailed a hand up Emma's thigh and magic sparked there, burning its way up to the blonde's heated center.

Emma bit down on her lip and looked up at the brunette wonderously. "But how-?"

"Magic." Regina whispered. "I suggest, unless you want to find yourself tortured to insanity, that you make your way to my house after we finish business here."

The mayor backed away and Emma found that she was better able to think with the woman at a distance from her. "I'll do what I damn well please, Regina." The blonde spat. "I'm not one to come running anytime you beckon me." She said and stood as she heard people filling the vault and talking excitedly.

"We'll see about that." The brunette said as there were footsteps on the stairs and the first few citizens came straggling in. Emma stepped forward and let the tapestry fall behind her as the people looked around cautiously. "Good evening." The brunette drew their attention. "Now, if you will give Sheriff Swan your name, we may begin." She waved a hand and suddenly Emma was clutching a leather notebook and pen.

"Hey there." The blonde smiled encouragingly at the woman that stepped to the front of the line. "Your name?"

"Dorris Pots." The gray-haired lady said nervously.

"Right, Ms. Pots, if you please." Emma gestured to Regina who held out her hand.

The woman stepped forward to the entrance of the vault. The others looked on suspiciously as Ms. Pots took the Queen's hand cautiously. However, after a few seconds of concentration, Regina dropped it and went to reach into the box in her vault that had popped open. She withdrew the glowing heart and put a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"This will hurt."

"I'm ready." The woman said with a steely glint in her eye. Regina nodded to her and plunged her hand inside her chest. The older woman flinched, but said nothing. When the brunette retracted her hand, Ms. Pots brought her own to cover her chest.

"How are you feeling?" The Queen asked stoically.

"Whole again." The older woman smiled up at the brunette. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." Regina said with a small smile.

The crowd surged forward, all trying to get in line first. "I'm Ralph!"

""Bernard!"

"Sebastian!"

And on and on it went. Emma glanced over at Regina ever so often; watching the poise and control she possessed. _Does she ever get tired?_ The blonde wondered to herself as she wrote name after name after name. It must have been hundreds of names the blonde jotted down in the journal. Until finally, there were only a dozen people left.

"Nearly there." She called to Regina.

"Indeed, Sheriff." The brunette called back casually.

Emma rolled her eyes a bit at the formality. Regina, however, must have caught the attitude because she called to the blonde. "Something you need to say, Miss Swan?"

"Not at all, Madam Mayor." She said as she wrote down the next name: eleven to go. "I was simply concerned for your state of fatigue."

"I am not fatigued, Sheriff." Regina snapped.

"It's understandable, Your Majesty." Emma prodded as she wrote down another name. Ten more…"I mean, you've been plunging your hand in and out of people for hours."

Regina looked across the room at the smirk on the woman's face and narrowed her eyes. _Is this how she wishes to play?_ She wondered to herself. _So be it._ "Yes, well, I think you would agree that, in this area, I have a great deal of _experience_."

Emma felt a skitter of heat up her back as the woman rolled the last word out of her mouth seductively. "Experience or not, Mayor, I'm sure this has been taxing." Emma took the next name, counting nine more people.

"You question my capabilities?" The brunette scoffed.

"Not your capabilities, Regina. Just your ability to _finish._" Eight more to go.

This caught the brunette's attention. She glared at the blonde who took another name down; diminishing the crowd to seven people. Regina watched her for a second and then smirked. "I'm touched by your concern, Sheriff." Emma glanced up. "As a matter of fact, I may need your assistance in a small matter later."

The blonde looked again from where she had been writing down a name. This left them with six people in the room. "Of course." Emma said suspiciously.

"Tis nothing too strenuous, Miss Swan." Regina plunged in the heart of a large man.

"Glad to hear it." Emma still looked suspicious. Five more people to go.

"As a matter of fact, I think it can wait till tomorrow." Said the brunette thoughtfully.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes," Regina nodded, counting four people left. "It's no emergency. Tomorrow will be fine."

"Are you sure?" The blonde was more baffled than ever. Hadn't the woman been making threats just a few hours ago? Hadn't Regina made it clear that the blonde was expected to report to her after their business here was finished?

"Yes, dear." Regina nodded as Emma took down another name and the third to last person bounded forward. "Bring Henry along, I'm sure he could help."

Emma furrowed her brow. _What? Henry? What did he have to do with it? _She was thoroughly confused now. What was Regina talking about? Hadn't they just been making innuendos over the citizens' heads? She frowned and took down another name until there was only one person left. "Ok, sure." She said bemusedly.

"I'm glad that's settled." Regina watched Emma puzzle as the last name was jotted down and the final person trotted forward. The brunette smiled at the woman and took her hand. The appropriate box popped open and Regina retrieved the heart. "Ready?"

The woman nodded. The brunette sank her hand into her chest woman gritted her teeth, but the pain subsided and she thanked Regina with tearful eyes. She nodded to Emma on her way out the door and the sheriff and mayor were left quite alone. Emma looked up from the journal to meet the brunette's gaze. "There are over three hundred names."

"I'm not surprised. I inherited my mother's collection as well." She took the book Emma offered and smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow, shall I, Sheriff?"

"Tomorrow?" blurted the blonde in reply. "You said…" Emma stopped at the smirk on the woman's face. "You were playing me."

"I was not." The brunette said slowly. "I do have a job for you and Henry tomorrow."

"And tonight?" Emma asked with an even voice.

"You made it clear you had plans." Regina shrugged. "I have no need of you if you're going to be distracted. You won't get the job done properly-"

"And what is this _job_?" The blonde growled, she was starting to feel like Regina was yanking her around. It irked her to no end that the brunette had made threats yet again and, yet again, had failed to follow through with them.

"You'll see when you bring Henry tomorrow." Regina turned on her heel and dropped the journal on the desk. She turned back around to find Emma very close to her.


	21. Chapter 21

_"You'll see when you bring Henry tomorrow."_

XXX

"Do you know what I think, Your Majesty?"

"No." The brunette regained her composure; the woman had startled her with her proximity. "But I'm sure you'll tell me."

"I don't believe that there is a job to be done. I think you're just jerking me around."

"Dear," Regina pursed her lips. "Jerking you around is no fun at all; it's too easy."

"What did you call me?" Emma backed the woman into the desk.

"Easy." Smirked the brunette. But suddenly Emma Swan was all over her.

The blonde grabbed her hips forcefully and claimed her mouth with her own; sinking her teeth into the brunette's plump bottom lip. Regina nearly moaned. Her heart leapt into her throat when Emma pressed her thumbs very hard into her hip bones and slipped her tongue past her lips. The brunette felt the blonde grasp the zipper of her slacks and stilled her hand.

"What now?" Emma growled and bit the woman's ear possessively.

"Not here."

"I seem to recall you on a desk before-"

Regina had a hard time focusing on the woman's words as her hands were now stroking up and down her back and squeezing her ass worshipfully. "Precisely." The brunette said breathlessly. "You owe me a bed."

Emma pulled back incredulously. "You cannot expect me to wait until we get to your house. That's a ten minute drive."

"We're not driving." Regina smirked and snapped her fingers. The purple mist enveloped them and Emma clutched the brunette in surprise. But Regina did not pull away until their feet hit solid ground again. When Emma gained her bearing, the brunette shoved her backward; causing her to unceremoniously flop on the bed. They had landed in Regina's bedroom. Convenient. "Disrobe." She said and waved a hand down her body to remove her blouse and slacks.

Emma stared up at her in awe. The black lace looked wickedly enticing against the woman's smooth, tan skin and the heels she was still sporting accentuated her legs perfectly. "Oh my god. Why didn't we do this sooner?" Her mouth went dry. But a tickling of something else prickled her brain. As she recalled, her underwear were less than glamorous. Emma tried in vain to remember what panties she had on.

"I'm less concerned with that and more concerned with your state of undress. Or lack thereof." The woman added quietly and advanced on her. Regina usually disliked being the first one naked, but from the way Emma was watching her, the brunette felt perfectly comfortable and in control. She watched as the blonde hesitated to strip. "Do you require assistance, Miss Swan?"

"Um, no." The blonde said and peeked under her shirt to spy a blue bra. _That's not so bad, it even has padding._ She thought to herself as she stood to pull the tee over her head. Regina's eyes scanned her body and then landed on her beltline.

"I can't make love to you with your jeans on, my dear." The brunette licked her lips and waited impatiently, but Emma stalled.

It was a crap shoot as far as she was concerned. There could be anything under the denim; damned Hello Kitty underpants for all she knew. She decided just to pull everything off at once. She unbuttoned her pants and hooked her thumbs in her waistband, but Regina had grown impatient. She sighed loudly and snapped her fingers once more. "Damn!" Emma shouted in surprise and looked down to find that Regina had swiped her jeans and left her standing in her polka-dotted underwear.

Emma looked up with a self-deprecating smile on her face and a lame excuse about laundry-day half formed on her lips. But Regina wasn't looking at her face; her eyes were roaming up and down the blonde's body hungrily. She was oblivious to Emma's embarrassment because she was too busy lusting over her. The blonde fought down a smirk and regained her composure before reaching behind her and unhooking her bra; allowing her breasts to tumble free.

Regina stared openly at the woman. Perky, well proportioned breasts were tantalizingly close to her. The brunette strode over to the blonde and shoved her backward suddenly. But Emma reached up and brought her down with her; flipping them so that she straddled the woman. The brunette's hands went immediately to thumb over her nipples tenderly and Emma fought not to arch into her palms."Mmm." The brunette murmured. "Beautiful." She whispered and raised herself up to close her lips around Emma's peaks.

The blonde tossed back her head and sighed loudly as she held Regina's head to her breast. The brunette rolled them over and continued her ministrations before moving lower and tugging Emma's underwear down and tossing them to the side. She spread the long legs and stuck out her tongue to give one, slow, long lick up Emma's heated folds. The blonde moaned. "Oh, Regina."

"What do you want, Emma?" The brunette asked quietly.

"Everything." The blonde whispered, causing her lover to smile. "Your mouth. Everywhere...just...I want everything."

"My mouth here?" She asked and licked again.

Emma tugged the dark hair she had entangled in her fingers unconsciously. "Oh, yes. I want that."

The brunette fought to slow her pace. She wanted to make the experience last as long as possible. Her goal was to bring the blonde as much pleasure as she could. "Can I tell you what I want?"

"God, yes." Emma sighed in a wanton manner. She hated to admit it, but Regina's words turned her on almost as much as her mouth did. The Queen was definitely the best at dirty talk the blonde had ever met.

"I want to sink my teeth into you." She bit the inside of the blonde's leg softly causing Emma to buck. "I want to feel you tremble as I push you higher and higher. I want to hear your voice as I pleasure you." The brunette punctuated each sentence with a series of swirls, sucks, and licks across Emma's tender nerves. "I want you to touch me. Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes." The blonde moaned at the slow burning pressure inside her. "I want to touch…"

"I want you to stroke me, to kiss me...to eat me." The blonde writhed beneath her mouth and words. "Does that sound acceptable."

"Sweet Jesus." Emma cursed and threw her head back. "I want that. I want you in my mouth…" Regina smirked and lifted her head to slide up the blonde's sensitive body and straddle her once more. She leaned down and kissed her passionately so that Emma could taste her own musk. The combination was devastating for the blonde.

"Then take me."


	22. Chapter 22

_"Then take me."_

XXX

She rolled them softly over so that Emma blinked down at her in confusion for a brief moment. She then let her eyes wander down to Regina's cleavage. The blonde promptly stuck her face between the woman's breasts and sighed happily.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do just that." She lifted her face, kissed the brunette, and removed her bra to tease her nipples with her tongue; clamping and sucking and then tickling with light strokes until Regina was nearly panting. Emma moved down, just as the brunette had done to her, with nips and gentle kisses until she reached the line of her lacy black panties. Emma tugged them down and off and then took the woman's thighs in her long fingered hands and pressed her legs together.

Regina looked up at her in confusion; why wasn't the blonde spreading her legs instead of closing them? But Emma abruptly pushed up and back on her knees, forcing her into a crunch so that her knee caps were nearly in her face. She suddenly felt a hot mouth devouring her clenched folds and moaned in discovery. Regina wrapped her arms around her knees to hold them in place as Emma slid her own hands down to grasp the smooth flesh where her thigh met her buttocks.

The blonde dived in aggressively, licking and tickling and teasing every sodden inch of Regina's hot sex. She pushed on her thighs and rolled her up further to slide down and bury her face in her folds as completely as she could; forcing the brunette into a position with no leverage whatsoever. Regina squirmed and moaned and panted as the blonde crushed her sanity with her exquisitely talented mouth. "Emma, you have...to stop."

"Why?" The blonde asked as she sucked her clit and flicked it repetitively.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to come."

"Isn't that the point?"

"We have all night…" Regina choked out. "I have more plans for you." She panted as Emma brought her slowly down and looked at her questioningly.

"A different position?"

"You could say that." The brunette smirked in spite of her flushed state. "Do you mind props?" She asked and Emma gaped at her in surprise and excitement. "I'll take that as a 'no'." Regina smiled wickedly and held out her hand. A purple feeldoe appeared and the blonde moaned in longing.

"Oh, yes." The woman took the appendage and situated it inside her with little resistance. Emma hissed as it rested comfortably between her thighs. She then turned her gaze to Regina. "Lube?" She queried.

The brunette smiled, held out her hand, spat in it, and rubbed it up and down the length of the phallus slowly; never breaking eye contact with Emma. The blonde growled low in her throat and abruptly flipped the queen onto her stomach and raised her ass in the air. Emma used her knee to spread the woman's thighs, placed a hand on either cheek and guided the head of the dildo to press against the woman's slick opening.

Regina moaned in encouragement as Emma entered her; spreading her apart inch by delicious inch. "More." She said quietly and the blonde gently pushed further inside. "Don't tease."

"I don't want to hurt you." The blonde growled quietly.

"You're not going to hurt me." Regina groaned. "I want you deeper."

Emma swallowed hard and thrust long and slow, filling the woman completely and then retreating just as slowly. She repeated this maneuver several times until she could see Regina's knuckles white from where they were clutching the sheet and twisting it in a death grip. Emma reached under her and grasped her left thigh to raise it up and straighten her leg; forcing the brunette to twist athletically.

Regina's arms and shoulders were burning from the contortion of her body, but it was worth it to have the blonde fucking her so deeply and passionately. Emma slowly turned her over, never exiting her heat, until she lay on her back and could cover Regina's body tenderly with her own. They were nose to nose now as the blonde's hips never broke stride. The brunette wrapped her legs around her lover and gratefully took every centimeter the woman offered.

"Regina, you're beautiful." The blonde whispered and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Am I doing a good job?"

"You're wonderful." The brunette arched her back as her lover grasped one breast. The slow and steady penetration and full body contact was driving the woman up a winding slope with a steep precipice. Regina wrapped the blonde in her arms and held her tightly. "The best I've ever had."

Emma smiled against her mouth and kissed her deeply. She could feel Regina's heels digging into the back of her thighs as she patiently and lovingly filled her over and over. The blonde wanted to make an impression on the brunette. She wanted Regina to remember this experience. She placed her palms against the mattress on either side of the brunette's body and lifted herself slightly so that she could pump with more force, but maintaining the same pace.

Regina moaned deeply and clutched her lover with more strength. "Make me come."

"I will."

"I want you to come with me." She whispered and arched against the woman desperately.

"I will." The blonde confirmed as she felt her own passion reaching the boiling point. "Look at me, Regina." Emma instructed gently as she buried herself in the woman's folds over and over; shredding her sanity.

Vulnerable brown eyes looked up and locked into the intense green gaze above her. Quite suddenly, she was falling. "Oh!" She clamped her legs around the woman tightly and went rigid. She felt Emma lose control and begin pumping rapidly and furiously against her. Their bodies connected in a frenzy and their breathing became shallow and hurried. All the while, their eyes never left one another as the climax overtook them and enslaved them.

Emma rolled off the brunette and collapsed beside her. Regina raised a trembling hand and waved down the blonde's body to remove the jutting, glistening, appendage. She then rolled closer and lay on her lover's heaving chest.

"Christ, that was…" Emma couldn't speak. "Amazing."

"Mmm…" Regina hummed in satisfaction and looked up. "It was."

They were quiet a moment before Emma broke the silence. "You know we have to tell Henry."

Regina sighed. "Yes."

"Maybe leave out the part about simultaneous orgasm."

"Maybe so." Regina smiled. "How do you think he will take it?"

"In stride, just like he takes everything else." Emma chuckled. "He'll say he knew it all along."

"Yes, he will." The brunette smiled again. "He'll insist you move in."

"Yeah, he will." Emma sighed as the brunette watched her face for any sign of annoyance. "So, would tomorrow be a good time for that?"

"You want to move in?" Regina sat up.

"Not unless you don't want me to." Emma said quietly.

The brunette laid back down and sniffed as though she couldn't care less. "That is suitable, Miss Swan."

"Then it's a date, Madam Mayor." The blonde smirked and nuzzled the woman affectionately before pulling her close and drifting to sleep.


End file.
